The most influential mobile tech event of North America is back!

The GSMA Intelligence team is delighted to support MWC LA 2021 as the show’s knowledge partner, providing all the data, forecasts and insights behind the event.

In addition, we are bringing all these insights into action, alongside some of the smartest minds in the industry, across two conferences.

Covid-19 and the impact on telecoms: what is permanent, what is temporary?

The telco industry has weathered a brutal storm, delivering resilient connectivity when people and businesses needed it most. But whilst social distancing measures and a greater dependency on fixed networks resulted in a surge in data traffic, worldwide lockdowns put pressure on certain revenue streams, such as roaming and retail sales.

While GSMA Intelligence research suggests that roaming revenues were down 20-30% in 2020 as global travel volumes declined, some operators reported nearly a 100% drop in international roaming traffic based on restrictive travel policies.

Like other crises before, the Covid-19 pandemic also accelerated existing consumer trends and habits, starting with the shift to online shopping, longer smartphone replacement cycles and a shift towards digital operators for operators themselves. Before the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the world and the industry, operators forecast that 52% of their smartphone sales were going to be made via online channels. Now, they must adjust to a more frugal customer base and a more crowded mid-tier of the market.

GSMA Intelligence and several industry experts will explore the implications of changing traveling and spending habits on the telecoms industry and operators’ retail, device, and roaming strategies.

Our speakers:

• Francois Charcosset, Commercial Operation Director, Orange 
• Krista Bourne, SVP & President, Consumer Sales & Operations, Verizon 
• Macario Namie, CMO, ASAPP
• Daniella Torres, Director, Global Marketing, TOMIA
• Miguel Calvo Vervaet, Group Head of Voice, Roaming and Messaging, Ooredoo
• Deep Basu, SVP, Mobileum 

MWCLA: Cutting through the buzz: what is new and what really matters? 

There is no doubt that the advent of 5G is creating a myriad of opportunities (and challenges) for telcos as they look to develop new services for enterprises, bring innovative use cases to consumers and introduce new technologies to transform their networks.

• Open Networking. Recent research from GSMA Intelligence highlights that 77% of operators expect to use 5G as an opportunity to introduce open networking technologies into their networks, explaining why all eyes are on Open RAN, public cloud, and edge computing.
• Security. In the aftermath of the pandemic, enterprise demand for security has also increased, with operators are hoping to reap the revenue benefits by adjusting their portfolios and forming partnerships.
• Consumer 5G. The democratization of 5G-capable devices has driven 5G on the consumer front, even as the sales proposition beyond higher speeds is still unclear for many users.
• 6G Aspirations. With 5G no longer in its infancy, 6G R&D plans and launch announcements are starting to foment both enthusiasm and skepticism across the industry. Nonetheless, 87% of the operators surveyed by GSMA Intelligence expect that 6G R&D efforts will be used to improve the performance of 5G.

Have MWC LA’s announcements reflected these trends? Which innovations are here to stay? Which verticals are the most promising for telcos to grow revenue beyond core? Have we found the killer 5G use case for consumers yet?

GSMA Intelligence and analysts from the whole telecoms ecosystem return on key announcements from the show for a lively debate on the future of the industry.

Our speakers: 

• Emma Mohr-Mcclune, Global Telecom Consumer Services, Platforms and Devices GlobalData
• Ken Rehbehn, Principal Analyst, Critical Communications Insights LLC
• Leonard Lee, Tech Analyst & Strategy Consultant, neXt Curve
• Peter Jarich, Head of GSMA Intelligence
• Moderated by: Ronny Haraldsvik, SVP, Marketing & Business Development, Cohere Technologies 

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