I wonder how the new venue will work out?
This year we switch to a new venue in a remote and distant part of Barcelona not connected to the Metro. Not sure who had that idea but I bet he or she travels everywhere by taxi! I, like a lot of people, will be looking to see what Barcelona has done to earn its Mobile World Capital title. We haven’t seen too much evidence to date but it is still early days in the programme. Most people I talk to liked the old Fira once we got used to it. It does have a certain charm and lots of lovely and useful outdoor space to meet and chat with people and to just sit and think and have a quiet moment now and again. The palace on the hill and the fountain and the views across the city will all be missed as we stare at four square walls and compensate ourselves with the fact that we have more space for even more visitors! I’ll go with an open mind though and give it my best shot.

I look forward to being able to talk about the Global Mobile Awards Winners
I will have the pleasure of attending the Global Mobile Awards ceremony, now in their 18th year. I think we can safely say that they are the most prestigious and influential awards in our industry. As honorary Chair of the judging panel it has been my pleasure to oversee the judging process. Given that there are 37 categories this year and well over 150 judges in all, it has been quite a task. Loved every minute though!

Why Chief Technology Officers should come out of hiding!
During my time as a CTO I think I visited the show only once. Some of my team attended but overall probably only about five people from the whole company used to attend the show. I still find today attendance by CTOs to be patchy and most that I meet are there because they are speaking or are on a panel session. I find it interesting to analyse why this should be given that this is a technology show, nearly all the world’s main vendors and manufacturers are there and often announcing new products, and all that is new and bright in our industry is in one place for one week. Maybe it’s because the CTO is a ‘hunted’ animal at these types of show. I remember being stalked by no end of suppliers thrusting their business cards in my direction. I enjoy my current anonymity!
I think another reason is that a CTO can get any vendor to visit them at any time and would expect to be kept up to date on product road maps without having to go to trade show. All of this is true but the CTO does miss out by not coming to MWC. True the CTO can pick up the phone and any supplier will come running but it is what and who the CTO doesn’t know that he is missing out on and MWC is that once-a-year chance to go and discover it – perhaps from a vendor that would never ordinarily get to meet despite having called his or her PA 20 times.

What I am looking forward to
So I think I am all ready to go. Have worked out what I want to focus on – small cells and RAN sharing – have set up a lot of meets already and looking forward to the annual ‘bump’ – those people we only ever seem to bump into at MWC.