7 Layers: MWC Barcelona 2023 Review

Industry trade group GSMA stated that more than 88,000 people attended its recent MWC Barcelona 2023 event, a number that might be hard to verify but seems legitimate considering the masses of people spread throughout the multiple halls of Barcelona’s cavernous Gran Via. While attendance might not have matched the 109,000 people GSMA said had attended the last pre-Covid event in 2019, many in attendance were still amazed by the strong turnout for the mobile telecommunication industry’s largest annual event. On this week’s SDxCentral 7 Layers podcast, I am joined by Reporter Julia King to take a look back at the MWC Barcelona 2023 event, highlighting some of the bigger news and trends to emerge from the show. This includes: • The network API push highlighted by GSMA’s Open Gateway initiative that has so far attracted nearly two-dozen operators and vendors attempting to squeeze more revenue from 5G networks. • The differing dynamics between vendor heavyweights Ericsson, Huawei, and Nokia. Ericsson’s event splash was somewhat subdued due to ongoing operational challenges; Huawei looked to counter ongoing geopolitical struggles with sheer mass; and Nokia deconstructed its logo to emphasis its operating momentum. • There was considerable open radio access network (RAN) news from the event, especially from European-based operators that have been aggressively trialing different open RAN solutions and have staked out deployment benchmarks. • And what would a telecom focused event be without looking toward the future. In this case, it was expected benefits from soon-to-be-available 5G-Advanced specifications and further-down-the-road 6G technology. We are still at least a year away from the former, and at least five years away from the latter, but what fun is a trade show if you can’t dream a little. We hope you enjoy this audio look back at the MWC Barcelona 2023 event, and make sure to check out all of our coverage of the show on our dedicated event page. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices