The MWC engines have started ! It begun showing up great evolution from an event that started focused on mobile technology (GSM) to be about mobility. It still has mobile technologies (emphasis today is in 5G), operators and providers but it seems to be switiching towards mobility and its applications.

There is a lot of buzz about 5G. In general, the buzz is about searching for the capacity to support the evolution from text messages to photos and then to videos and shortly after to virtual reality. You commonly hear about cost savings with a economy of scale – and how to enable IoT.

MWC attracts more participants each year, including more IT solutions, wearable technologies and, of course, mobile applications. Users are now in the spotlight, not carriers. And that is very positive.

It’s interesting to witness how technology can accelerate the transformation and play an important role as an integrator. Here are two examples:

1) Mobile banking enabling the loan of small quantities to non-banking users. It means a lot for those people who can only have access to loans through informal institutions with high transactional costs and unaffordable interests.

2) Mark Zuckerberg brought to the table the discussion about giving internet access to the amazing 4B people around the globe who still don’t have it. His initiative includes deploying drones the size of a Jumbo jet (and the weight of a car) to amplify the reach and being cost-effective at the same time. In addition, he claims carriers to merge the 5G technology evolution aimed at people with greater buying power with access globalization.

We will definitely see more of this in the very near future. Perhaps, even in the next few days. Stay tuned.