With only 3 weeks until Mobile World Congress 2018 in the beautiful city of Barcelona, here at the WBA we are reflecting on the inflection point of the wireless world as we grow ever closer to 5G. In the 4th industrial revolution the story moves beyond connecting people and digital empowerment to the connecting billions of things and transforming societies. Whilst we know that the excitement of 3G and 4G launches were primarily about cellular networks, devices and OTT applications; with 5G the paradigm shifts with multiple access networks, interconnected technologies and more applications, devices, people and things wanting and needing to be connected, together!

At one end of the spectrum (pun intended), we still have millions of people unable to connect to the internet whether in rural locations in developing countries or indeed in some of the biggest and wealthiest economies (and cities) in the world. At the other end, we have exciting new technologies and capabilities now coming to fruition and changing the way we will transact and interact with the world. Smart cities, digital homes, artificial intelligence, IoT, big data – these buzz words are changing from futuristic visions to a reality creating the inflection point which is arguably as promising as the launch of the iPhone in terms of changing how we operate and interact. The way in which infrastructure is designed, developed and implemented and the business models that support it will evolve significantly. This in turn will impact stakeholders and their role across the entire value chain. Can it be the fourth industrial revolution as some claim, come and listen to our key note speeches to find out more.

At Mobile World Congress 2018 we are delighted to have two speakers from the WBA who will touch on some of the opportunities and challenges that are upon us:

• Our CEO, Shrikant Shenwai will be addressing the Ministerial program, targeted at senior government, regulatory and industry leaders. Shrikant will be presenting on ‘Transforming Communities with the Internet of Things (IoT)’ taking place on Monday, 26 February from 11: 30 -13:00.

• Meanwhile Tiago Rodrigues, General Manager of the WBA, will be talking about Owning Edge Infrastructure: Burden & Opportunity on Monday 26 Feb 2018, 16.00 – 17.10

With an anticipated 100,000 attendees from over 200 countries and 2,300 exhibitors together in one place – MWC 2018 is a fabulous opportunity for the WBA to not only present but meet with many of the other industry movers and shakers and to communicate how the WBA works with its members to bring about the much needed change to ensure the paradigm shifts are not just exciting theory but work in reality.

We will also be talking about these issues and much much more at the Wireless Global Congress in Orlando in June. Find out more at the event’s official website.

To meet with Wireless Broadband Alliance at MWC Barcelona 2018, e-mail contactus@wballiance.com or click here to fill out our online form.

For press enquiries please contact wba@ccgrouppr.com