Swedish telecom company Ericsson has withdrawn from the telecom industry event Mobile World Congress 2020 (MWC 2020), citing the outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus (nCov).This follows a similar move by South Korea’s LG Electronics, while Chinese telecom gear manufacturer ZTE Corp rubbished reports that it had dropped out of the world’s largest telecom event.
“After an extensive internal risk assessment, Ericsson has decided to take further precautionary measures by withdrawing from MWC Barcelona 2020, the largest event in the telecom industry,” Ericsson said in a statement.
“Ericsson appreciates that GSMA have done everything it 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,” it said.
Börje Ekholm, President and CEO, Ericsson, said: “The health and safety of our employees, customers and other stakeholders are our highest priority. This is not a decision we have taken lightly”.
“It is very unfortunate, but we strongly believe the most responsible business decision is to withdraw our participation from this year’s event,” Ekholm added.
To showcase its portfolio and innovations, Ericsson will take the demos and content created for MWC Barcelona to customers in their home markets with local events called ‘Ericsson Unboxed’.
