This is an open letter to the GSMA calling you to make MWC2020 online.

In just two weeks from today, MWC will take place in Barcelona. The most innovative start-ups and companies meet together for the greatest technology event of the year—the legendary Mobile World Congress. We’ve look forward to this event throughout the year, but now we can’t help but ask ourselves if this is the right time to attend MWC. Will having more than 100K people from dozens of different countries in the same place help spread Coronavirus by becoming an infection hub?

More than 900 people have passed away from Coronavirus in China, and the virus has made appearances in other countries as well. It has no vaccine yet and the world health authorities have not found a solution on how to handle this virus. Based on these concerns, we believe that as an industry we should make the unified decision to be a part of the solution and not spread the problem.

It is during these difficult times that we can truly show that connectivity shouldn’t be the problem, rather it can be a solution. We urge the GSMA to make this years MWC an online event. Use the tools that technology has given you and make the congress an online event. Let us meet each other online, allowing all colleagues to have a chance to attend, even if their country is in quarantine. This is your chance to allow us to share our technologies and meet colleagues in the first and greatest Online MWC.

Panorama will not attend this year’s MWC unless it becomes an online event. We hope to see more companies join us in preventing the spread of Coronavirus and hope that a solution will be found in the near future.