Barcelona mobile meeting kicks off with debate over tech regulation

OVIEDO, Spain

The Mobile World Congress, one of the top annual technology events, kicked off in Barcelona on Monday with debate over technology regulation and a series of product launches.

This year’s event is expected to attract around 80,000 people from most of the biggest technology firms in the world.

Already robot dogs, bleeding-edge mobile technology like cell phones with liquid cooling and other novelties like plans for flying taxis have been unveiled at the massive trade show.

But much of the conversation has also centered around key EU regulatory issues, such as who should pay for network infrastructure — telecom companies or big tech platforms like Netflix or Google — and how to integrate it further, as Thierry Breton, EU commissioner for internal market, explained during a keynote speech.

“We need to leave behind our long-standing perception of the way networks operate, the way they are structured and the way users connect and intersect with networks,” he said.

Last week, Breton launched a 12-week consultation regarding regulatory changes that focus on these issues.

Early on Monday, the GSMA industry association, representing telecommunication companies, launched a new open protocol that is being supported by 21 mobile network operators to integrate operators and cloud services.

“Without us, there is no digital future,” Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete Lopez, GSMA board chairman, said during the congress’s inaugural speech.

Other prominent topics up for debate will include semiconductor manufacturing, the role of artificial intelligence and 5G adoption.

Despite Western sanctions and concerns over Chinese technology companies, Huawei has the biggest presence at the event, taking up nearly all of a massive exhibition hall.

Of the around 2,000 exhibitors, 150 are Chinese companies, according to the organization.