100 years leading change: Telefónica’s innovative proposal at MWC

Telefónica, in the year of its Centenary, will showcase at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), whose 2024 edition will be held in Barcelona between 26 and 29 February, an innovative proposal to lead the digital era. The company will highlight the extraordinary possibilities offered by the most cutting-edge and sustainable connectivity, while showcasing technological solutions and services that connect people’s lives and have a positive impact on society and business.

Telefónica will present itself at the MWC under the slogan ‘100 Years Leading Change’, in which it combines its century of knowledge with the most technological vision of this digital era in which it is already immersed, which will be highlighted in the presentation of the different use cases, as well as in the sessions that will be held in the Agora.

Organic and flexible design in almost 1,000 m2 of floor space

Telefónica, through its 952 square metre stand, will convey the company’s vision from its centenary legacy to a future with optimism. The heart of its pavilion will become an immersive experience, with a spectacular curved screen in its Agora, which will envelop visitors in a soulful journey through the company’s 100 years and the legacy that is yet to come.

In its commitment to sustainability as a transversal element in all companies, Telefónica will include this policy in the production of its stand and will introduce different proposals with the aim of certifying it as a sustainable event. With this objective, it will incorporate, as the most innovative element, recycled and recyclable plastic, made using vertical 3D printing robots, line by line, which will avoid and reduce CO2 emissions.

In this hybrid world, the company will offer the opportunity to visit Telefónica’s ‘Virtual Stand’ at MWC24 (by connecting from the site) as a real-time immersive experience, accessible via computer, mobile phone or Meta Quest virtual reality glasses. Users will be able to follow the Agora talks live, see the demos at the Telefónica stand and ask any questions or clarify doubts through the digital gurus.

Another way to follow all the activity at the Telefónica stand at MWC will be through the ‘Living App MWC24’ on Movistar Plus+. Users will be able to watch the Agora presentations live on their TV and enjoy Telefónica’s multimedia content related to the event. In addition, once this edition is over, users will be able to continue enjoying all the sessions.

Telefónica’s exhibition space will be equipped with technology from the Canadian company C2R0, included in Telefónica Tech’s portfolio of solutions, to be able to follow and measure the activity of the stand continuously and as it is happening. Real-time video analytics software based on Artificial Intelligence allows companies to understand the movement patterns and behaviour of customers in the physical space. The information is obtained anonymously and without the use of biometric data to help organisations make better business decisions that result in a better customer experience and significantly improved operational efficiency.

Demonstrations that mark the change

Telefónica’s stand will be divided into three demo zones dedicated to showcasing connectivity, where open networks are key to fostering innovation and driving profitable and sustainable growth, solutions and services for digitised industry, and entertainment that bridges the real and virtual worlds.

The ‘Telefónica Open Gateway’ demo will showcase real-world use cases of how networks are transformed into developer-friendly platforms to drive a new generation of digital services. Launched at MWC 2023, Open Gateway, an industry initiative launched by the GSMA, has been evolving and growing this year and is poised to open a new era in telecommunications networks. Telefónica is already commercialising APIs in Brazil and Spain and the demo at its MWC stand will bring together innovation and sport in a real application experience.

Through the ‘Telefónica Edge Haptic Arena’ demo, the company will present a new video game concept in which players will enjoy an unprecedented experience thanks to the union of extended reality (XR), 5G, the advantages of edge and haptic technology to have a tactile experience of the video game. Specifically, Telefónica has managed to combine in this demonstration the graphic processing and low latency capabilities provided by 5G and edge; the latest generation of extended reality, which allows the real world to be united with the virtual world, and haptic technology that facilitates the incorporation of the sense of touch into the game. In this way, Telefónica is promoting, through innovation in its solutions, use cases that mark the path of evolution in the field of video games.

With the demo ‘Smart Industry: Leading the Change’, Telefónica will showcase its technological capabilities to develop a fully automated, digitised and secure industrial process that incorporates advanced technologies such as 5G, edge computing, OT cybersecurity, big data and data analytics, artificial vision and blockchain. Using a collaborative robotic arm, an artificial vision camera, a robotic arm with an industrial printer and an autonomous mobile robot, the company will show an automated printing process of a piece of wood with a QR code on the back so that visitors can see the traceability of the product.

In addition, Telefónica will present in Barcelona, together with Matsuko, a spatial computing experience for holographic meetings, developed in collaboration with NVIDIA, which will allow participants to connect and collaborate seamlessly and in real time as if they were holograms.

The Agora as a center for debate and knowledge

The heart of Telefónica’s stand at the MWC will be its Agora. The auditorium will become the centre of reference where speakers and visitors will meet to discuss and learn first-hand about innovative technologies, solutions, services and success stories that the company puts at the service of companies and society, where various speakers will explain all the latest developments in 5G, cloud, IoT and edge computing.

The Agora will vibrate throughout the four days of the MWC with 25 actions. It will be possible to attend different sessions, presentations and additional live demonstrations, as well as getting to know the stand demos in more detail. The stage will be the setting for relevant announcements about Telefónica’s upcoming actions and innovative proposals. Also, the large-curved screen in the Agora will showcase the company’s latest technologies and success stories.

More than 90 top executives and experts will be on the Agora stage to complete an agenda of sessions that will be open to all those who visit the MWC in person. In addition, for those who cannot attend in person, everything that happens there can be followed live through the immersive experience developed by the company at Telefónica’s ‘Virtual Stand’ and the ‘Living App MWC24’ on Movistar Plus+.

The Executive Chairman of Telefónica, José María Álvarez-Pallete, will speak at the opening of MWC 2024, first thing on Monday 26 February, and in another session on the same day from 4.30pm. Throughout the four days of the MWC, more than 40 Telefónica executives, experts and technicians will give presentations, speak on panels and participate in debates in the agenda of sessions organised by the GSMA.

Four transformation notebooks

Once again this year, Telefónica will compile its proposal for MWC 2024 in four digital notebooks highlighting the solutions, services and success stories that the company puts at the service of companies, sectors and, of course, society as a whole.

The transformation notebooks, three of which are already available on Telefónica’s MWC website, showcase the potential of technology applied to Innovation, Progress and Sustainability. An additional notebook entirely dedicated to Open Gateway, the ground-breaking open networking initiative announced at last year’s Mobile, will also be available at this year’s MWC.

For more information: Telefónica at MWC 2024