5 things to expect from the event formerly known as Mobile World Congress

The annual telecom industry gathering once known as Mobile World Congress but now officially called MWC Barcelona begins next week. And while the annual gathering of telecom industry players and pretenders can feel like a punitive plague of locusts descending upon this otherwise lovely Spanish seaside city, it also can serve as an interesting barometer of the progress made by the industry from wherever it has been and wherever it is going. Or at least hopes it’s going.

But with more than 100,000 people participating and exhibitors of all shapes and sizes unleashing a tidal wave of announcements about this autonomous gizmo and that connected thingamawhatzit, it can be a little difficult to sort through all the hoopla and figure out what really matters.