When the Mobile World Congress (MWC) – the world’s largest mobile communications fair – begins in Barcelona on February 24, Korean electronics company LG will not be there for the first time in many years. “In view of the safety of its employees, partners and, above all, customers, LG has decided to withdraw from the exhibition and participation in MWC 2020,” it says in a statement, The decision eliminates the risk of sending hundreds of LG employees on international trips, which has already become more difficult “because the virus continues to spread across borders”. Of course, this means the coronavirus 2019-nCoV.
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The news spread like wildfire in the industry. All the more fueled by the simultaneously circulating message that the Chinese ZTE group – one of the largest cell phone manufacturers in the world – does not want to compete in Barcelona. The company had only canceled a press conference. Corresponding reports were so persistent that ZTE stated in the press release that it was “participating in the Mobile World Congress as planned”. For the company’s employees, however, participation in the MWC is associated with considerably greater effort than usual.
As for the thousands of others who want to arrive from China, it has become difficult for ZTE staff to get to Barcelona at all as long as international airlines such as Lufthansa and British Airways suspend their flights to China. This is all the more true since ZTE sent many of its employees and managers to Europe earlier than planned. A statement by the company says that all employees have been obliged “to undergo two weeks of self-isolation after their arrival in Europe”.
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A company spokeswoman told SPIEGEL that the number of people traveling to Barcelona had been significantly reduced anyway. Only those who are indispensable for the trade fair appearance or who absolutely want to attend the MWC have actually been posted. In addition, the people in question were not allowed to have any symptoms two weeks before their arrival at the Mobile World Congress.
That would mean that ZTE reacted extremely quickly. The first death from coronavirus infection was reported on January 11th, the city of Wuhan, possible place of origin of the disease, sealed off on January 22nd, January 30th WHO announced the international health emergency,
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New visas, new flights, new hotel rooms
At this point in time, ZTE had already intensively taken care of applying for new visas for Spain, rebooking flights and getting hotel rooms. Because in line with the self-imposed obligation to self-isolation, almost all of the ZTE employees arriving at the MWC are already in Barcelona. According to the company spokeswoman, most of the time there is spent in her hotel rooms. They are instructed not to meet with colleagues, not to ride the subway, and to avoid gathering people. People work in the home office, so to speak, in the hotel rooms. This also applies to management staff.
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In its press release, ZTE also promises that the exhibition stand and the devices on display will be disinfected daily. The company also wants to convey security by announcing that the stand personnel “will mainly come from Europe, not from China”.
Huawei confirms that ZTE is not alone with its measures. According to a spokeswoman, its employees also travel to Barcelona two weeks before the fair begins and only “after an in-depth health check”. In addition, they wanted to “constantly check for symptoms” during the event.
Like sardines in a can
And the trade fair company also makes every effort to reassure potential visitors. Upon request, a spokeswoman said that the MWC would “proceed as planned”. In addition, measures were taken “to curb the spread of the virus.” Among other things, this means that wherever people touch things, they should be cleaned and disinfected more often. This applies to toilets, door handles, handrails of escalators and public touch screens. They also want to provide cleaning and disinfectants for the visitors and advertise a “no shaking hands” regulation. Particular attention is paid to the speakers of the congress program, whose microphones are to be replaced regularly.
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Despite these assurances, it remains to be seen how the fear of the virus will affect the trade fair program and the number of visitors in the coming weeks. Last year, almost 110,000 people from all over the world took part in the MWC, crowding into the crowded suburban trains like sardines in a tin on the way to and from the exhibition center. Even without the fear of the corona virus, this throng is not pleasant, says the ZTE spokeswoman. This year she would prefer to commute between the trade fair and the hotel on a rental bike.
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