Ericsson announced it will not be attending the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the telecom industry's biggest trade show. The company said it was too risky for employees and customers to attend, due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The company said in a statement that it has already taken a number of precautionary measures to ensure the health and safety of employees and to minimize the impact on the company’s operations. After an extensive internal risk assessment, Ericsson decided to take further measures by withdrawing from MWC, which is set to take place at the end of this month in Barcelona.
Ericsson is the second major company to announce its withdrawal due to health concerns, after LG earlier this week. The GSMA, the organiser of MWC, said earlier it was still planning to go ahead with the event, after taking extra measures to try to prevent any spread of the virus at the conference site.
Ericsson said it "appreciates that GSMA have done everything they can to control the risk. However, as one of the largest exhibitors, Ericsson has thousands of visitors in its hall each day and even if the risk is low, the company cannot guarantee the health and safety of its employees and visitors." CEO Borje Ekholm said the decision was not taken lightly, but health and safety needed to be the highest priority.
Ericsson's products and demonstrations planned for MWC will be used still at other events, planned close to customers in their home markets. These events will be called 'Ericsson Unboxed'.
