The GSM Association has said it is considering bids from five cities that are eager to take away Barcelona's contract to host Mobile World Congress from 2013.
Global Telecoms Business has researched the alternative venues, and it is clear that MWC, though big for the telecoms industry, is small by the world standards of trade shows. Leaders of the mobile business will be looking at venues that can host events with over 250,000 visitors, five times the size of the current Barcelona congress. Munich, one of the candidates, has an event with over 400,000; the Paris motor show, at Porte de Versailles, had 1.4 million visitors in 2008.
These are all much bigger that the telecoms industry is ever likely to attract. Even at its height in the heady dotcom-bubble days of 1999, the International Telecommunication Union's Telecom show in Geneva had just 170,000 visitors, a number never reached since.
The Montjuic exhibition centre in Barcelona has been the home of Mobile World Congress -- formerly 3GSM -- since 2006, having won the deal to host what is now the world's biggest telecoms conference from Cannes.
Now it is having to compete against five other cities -- all European -- for a five-year contract from 2013 to 2017. Global Telecoms Business is conducting a survey of readers. Which venue do YOU think the GSMA should choose? Go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JM28MWL and give us your view.
Current results as at 18.00 UK time on September 2: Barcelona leading with 40%, Paris and Amsterdam each at about 20%; others following.
Competing venues
The GSMA has announced the six competing venues are Amsterdam, Barcelona, Cologne, Milan, Munich and Paris. It will identify a shortlist in January 2011, and announce the winner in the middle of 2011. If Barcelona loses the fight, its last MWC will be in February 2012.
John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA Ltd, the trading arm of the GSM Association, said: "The Mobile World Congress has grown significantly since it was started in 1987, and we look forward to shaping the future of the event with one of these outstanding candidate cities."
The GSMA said that it expects more than 50,000 visitors at the next Mobile World Congress, to be held in Barcelona on February 14-17 2011.
"We have experienced tremendous success and our association with Barcelona has been extremely positive for the GSMA, for our exhibitors, for our attendees and for the wireless industry," said Hoffman.
The GSM Association would not give details of the particular venues at each city that it will be considering. Nor would it allow a detailed interview with Hoffman.
"There is nothing more to add regarding venue details at this time other than what you saw in the press release so I'm afraid that John isn't available to discuss this is any more depth," said Claire Cranton, a GSM Association official.
Confidential process
"I am sure that you appreciate the need for the selection process to remain confidential. The decision will be made on many criteria and will take all aspects of what a city can offer into consideration. Obviously, this is a very important decision, and we have many things to consider in the best interest of our customers. We will determine the short list of candidates by January 2011, and we will make a decision by mid 2011."
However, Global Telecoms Business has done its best to identify the major exhibition and conference venues in each of the six cities, including Barcelona, where a bigger site is available than the existing location at Montjuic.
"The GSMA is committed to holding the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona through 2012," said Hoffman in an official statement. "In partnership with the city of Barcelona, the region of Catalonia, the Fira de Barcelona and all our city partners, we have experienced tremendous success and our association with Barcelona has been extremely positive for the GSMA, for our exhibitors, for our attendees and for the wireless industry."
The first GSM World Congress was held in Madrid in 1995, but the show moved to Cannes on the south coast of France the following year and stayed, as 3GSM, until 2005 when attendance was running at around 28,000, well beyond the capacity of the venue -- used by the Film Festival each May -- and the city.
Many visitors were regularly commuting from Nice, 30-40 minutes along the coast, and taxi drivers were charging eye-watering sums for late-night trips back to distant hotels.
Royal opening
The authorities at Cannes believed the move to Barcelona was just for a year or two, but the first event in the new location, in 2006, showed the GSMA was right to move: the conference was opened officially by King Juan Carlos of Spain along with Queen Sofia, the head of the regional government in Catalonia, and the mayor of Barcelona.
But it's more than glittering opening ceremonies that will help the GSMA to its decision in 2011. The organisers will be looking not only at exhibition space and meeting facilities, but also the practical details for 50,000 or more visitors -- such as how easy is it for the big decision makers to travel from North America or Asia.
A constant grumble about Barcelona since 2006 has been that its airport has few intercontinental flights, requiring visitors -- having already made one change at JFK, Chicago or Hong Kong -- to travel via Heathrow, Madrid or Frankfurt.
If that's a priority, Amsterdam and Paris will both do well -- and Cologne will be even worse than Barcelona, though travellers can come into Dusseldorf and catch a high-speed train.
Climate may be a consideration. Though the 2010 event was wet and cold, in most years in February the sun has shone over Barcelona and the temperature has been mild. Visitors had a lucky escape: the city had 50 centimetres of snow in early March.
But Amsterdam and Cologne are regularly chilly, not to say icy, in February and Munich is often deep in snow, while Paris and Milan are more likely to be mild.
Barcelona may yet win the battle and keep MWC visitors by the Mediterranean. There is more to Fira Barcelona than Montjuic, which has hosted the show since 2006. A few stops away is Gran Via, opened in 2007 with 200,000 square metres of space and just about to be doubled in size.
Cannes is not on the list: its 28,000 square metres at the Palais des Festivals is way too small, even with the addition of boats in the harbour for meetings. And the industry has not forgotten those late-night trains to sleazy hotels by Nice railway station, or the expensive taxis after the last train had run.
What do you think of the different venues on offer? Add your comments below and contribute to the debate.
The cities
Global Telecoms Business survey: Which venue do YOU think the GSMA should choose? Go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JM28MWL and give us your view.
Amsterdam
RAI
City: Largest city in the Netherlands, with 1.36 million people; canals, Rembrandt and Van Gogh
Weather in February: average high 6.0°C, average low 0.2°C; 13 days of precipitation
Facilities: 87,000 square metres of exhibition space in 11 halls, plus 22 congress and conference rooms seating 1,750
Location: Just south of Amsterdam city centre with good train, metro, bus and tram connections; 15 minutes to RAI by train from Amsterdam airport
International connections: Schiphol airport (AMS) is the third largest in world for international passengers, served by KLM, Delta and many others. By train Amsterdam is 4 hours 40 minutes from London, 3 hours 20 from Paris, 2 hours 15 minutes from Brussels
Return air ticket: from New York $1,700 United/Continental direct; from Hong Kong $1,350 KLM direct
Biggest event: No information available on the biggest, but RAI hosts the International Broadcasting Convention, for the TV and video industry. This year's event, on September 10-14, is expected to have 45,000 visitors
Barcelona
Fira Barcelona
City: capital of partly self-governing Spanish region of Catalonia, 1.6 million people; tapas, Miro, Picasso and Gaudi
Weather in February: average high 10°C, average low 5.3°C, four days of precipitation
Facilities: Montjuic, the current location of Mobile World Congress, has 165,000 square metres of exhibition floor space and 50,000 square metres of outdoor space; Gran Via has 200,000 square metres of floor space, now being expanded to 405,000
Location: Montjuic is in the city centre on lines L1 (red) and L3 (green) of the Barcelona metro at Espanya station; Gran Via is three stops west of Espanya at Europe Fira station on the FGC suburban rail network
International connections: Barcelona airport (BCN) at El Prat is 10 kilometres from the city centre; mainly served by domestic and European airlines including Aeroflot, easyJet, Iberia, Lufthansa, Ryanair, Vueling and others. By train Barcelona is 2 hours 50 minutes from Madrid
Return air ticket: from New York $1,250 United/Continental direct; from Hong Kong $1,080 Aeroflot, one stop
Biggest event: Montjuic's biggest is Mobile World Congress, with 49,000, according to Fira Barcelona, in 2010; at Gran Via, construction show Construmat had 153,000 visitors in 2009
Cologne (Koeln in German)
Koelnmesse
City: Fourth largest in Germany, capital of North Rhine Westphalia, 3 million people including Bonn, the capital until union with East Germany in 1990; the Rhine, Cologne cathedral and beer
Weather in February: average high 2.9°C, average low -0.9°C; nine days of precipitation
Facilities: 284,000 square metres of exhibition space in 11 halls, plus 100,000 square metres of outside space; 15,000 parking spaces
Location: directly across the River Rhine from Cologne's city centre, connected by bridge and with good public transport connections
International connections: Cologne-Bonn airport (CGN) is 14 kilometres from Cologne city centre, served by mainly European budget services such as Air Berlin; Dusseldorf airport (DUS) is 45 minutes away by high-speed train, and is served by Air France, British Airways, Delta, KLM, Lufthansa and SAS. By train Cologne is 4 hours 15 minutes from London, 3 hours 15 minutes from Paris, 4 hours 20 minutes from Berlin
Return air ticket: to Dusseldorf from New York $1,735 United/Continental direct; from Hong Kong $1,120 Emirates, one stop
Biggest event: Gamescom 2010 had 254,000; the previous biggest was Intermot 2008, a motorcycle, scooter and bicycle show, with 172,883
Milan (Milano in Italian)
FieraMilano
City: Biggest in Italy, with 4.3 million people in the whole urban area; Leonardo’s Last Supper, the cathedral and panettone
Weather in February: average high 8.2°C, average low 0.12°C; seven days of precipitation
Facilities: 345,000 square metres of exhibition space after investment of €755 million, 60,000 square metres outside; convention space for 18,000 due to open in 2010; 14,000 parking spaces
Location: Rho, on the north-western edge of Milan, with its own station, Rho-Fiera, at the end of the metro line 1 (red) from the city; served by suburban trains and some services on Turin-Milan line
International connections: Malpensa (MXP) is the main airport, 40 kilometres and 40 minutes by train from the city centre and is served by Alitalia, Delta, easyJet, Lufthansa and many others; Linate airport (LIN) is smaller and nearer the city, and is used by Alitalia, British Airways, SAS and others. Code for either airport is MIL. By train Milan is 9 hours from Munich, 3 hours 40 minutes from Zurich.
Return air ticket: from New York $970 Aer Lingus, one stop; from Hong Kong $850 Emirates, one stop
Biggest event: Saloni, a furniture, bathroom fittings and kitchen equipment event, had 297,460 business customers in April 2010, with 56% from outside Italy. Milan is due to host the five-yearly Universal Exposition in 2015, the successor to Expo 2010 Shanghai
Munich (Muenchen in German)
Messe Muenchen
City: Capital of Bavaria, with 1.3 million people; the Residenz palace, Siemens, BMW and beer
Weather in February: average high 4.3°C, average low -3.2°C; nine days of precipitation
Facilities: New Munich Trade Fair Centre has 17 halls with 180,000 square metres of exhibition space and 360,000 square metres of outdoor space
Location: Riem, to the east of Munich city, 20 minutes from the city centre by U2 metro line (red) with two stations, Messestadt West and Messestadt Ost (Ost is the end of the line); shuttle bus from airport
International connections: Munich airport (MUC), 30 kilometres north-east of the city and 45 minutes by S-Bahn metro, is the second busiest in Germany; it is served by Air Berlin, easyJet, Lufthansa, United and many others. By train Munich is 5 hours 45 from Berlin, 4 hours 15 from Vienna
Return air ticket: from New York $895 Aer Lingus, one stop; from Hong Kong $825 Emirates, one stop
Biggest event: Bauma, an international construction event, had 415,000 visitors from more than 200 countries in April 2010
Paris
Paris Porte de Versailles or Paris Nord Villepinte
City: Capital of France, with 11 million people; Eiffel Tower, boulevards and the Musée d’Orsay
Weather in February: average high 8.2°C, average low 2.8°C; nine days of precipitation
Facilities: Porte de Versailles, on the edge of central Paris, has eight exhibition halls covering 220,000 square metres; Villepinte, outside the city to the north, has eight adjustable, multi-purpose halls of 7,100 to 48,000 square metres
Location: Porte de Versailles has its own stop on metro line 12 running through central Paris; Paris Nord Villepinte has its own stop, Parc d'Expositions, on line B of the RER suburban train line from Charles de Gaulle airport and central Paris
International connections: Paris Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG), the world's sixth busiest, is close to Villepinte and 30 minutes from central Paris, served by Air France, Delta, United and many others; Paris Orly (ORY) has mainly regional European connections. Code for either airport is PAR. By train Paris is 2 hours 15 minutes from London and 1 hour 30 minutes from Brussels
Return air ticket: from New York $1,855 BA direct but $855 Aer Lingus with one stop; from Hong Kong $1,155 Air France
Biggest event: For Villepinte the biggest event is Sima, a two-yearly agribusiness show which had 208,550 visitors in 2009; at Porte de Versailles, the biggest is Le Mondial de l'auto, the Paris Motor Show, also every two years, with 1,432, 972 visitors in 2008.
Source of data: Global Telecoms Business research, plus information from venues (RAI Amsterdam did not reply). Flights were researched on August 23 2010 for a journey out on November 1, back on November 5, using www.opodo.co.uk, and converted to US dollars at £1 to $1.55; non-stop flights were chosen where they were available.