Frequently Asked Questions about Mobile World Congress

Mobile World Congress will take place from Monday, 27 February through Thursday, 1 March 2012.

Mobile World Congress takes place at Fira Montjuïc, in Barcelona Spain. See the location on a map

The address is: Fira Barcelona – Montjuïc, Av. Reina Maria Cristina, s/n, 08004 Barcelona, Spain.

The term “Mobile World Congress” includes everything that happens during the four days of the event. There are many components that make up the event, including a conference programme, an exhibition, our programme for app developers called App Planet, an awards programme and great networking opportunities. Mobile World Congress is much more than just a “conference”!

If you have questions about Mobile World Congress or would like more information about any aspect of the event, please fill out our enquiry form and a member of the MWC team will respond to you.

Attendees from countries requiring a visa invitation letter may request a letter when registering to attend. You must complete your registration and provide full payment before the letter will be sent.

Barcelona has many great transportation options, including buses, the underground Metro system, taxis and trains. We do offer shuttles services to those few hotels which are not easily accessed by the other available options. We will post the list of served hotels and a schedule of pick-up times closer to the event.

Yes. The minimum age for all attendees is 16 years of age. Requests for exceptions to this rule must be made in writing and approved by GSMA. Attendees under the age of 16 will not be able to enter without GSMA’s prior written approval.

Fira Montjuïc is a large venue (view map), but it’s fairly easy to figure out. If you were to stand between the Venetian Towers in Plaça Espanya facing the National Palace of Montjuïc, the Halls are laid out in order going clockwise, beginning with Hall 1 on your left side and leading to Hall 8 on your right side. However, we reference a few locations that aren’t inside one of the Halls that you might be curious as to their location.

• “The Courtyard” is the area bordered by Halls 1, 2, 4 and 5
• “The Avenue” is the closed-off street that runs down the middle of the venue
• “The Upper Village” is the portion of the venue across Ruis i Taulet street, and contains Halls 6 and 7, as well as the beautiful Magic Fountain

The venue takes longer to navigate than you might expect due to both the size and number of people at the event. First-time visitors often make the mistake of not allowing for “travel time” between locations inside the venue when planning their schedules. To help you plan, the MWC team recommends allowing for the following travel time after you pass through the security tents and enter the venue:

• From Plaça Espanya to Hall 1 or Hall 8 = allow 5 minutes
• From Plaça Espanya to Halls 4 or 5 = allow 10 minutes
• From Plaça Espanya to the Upper Village or App Planet = allow 15 minutes
• From Hall 1 to Hall 4 = allow 5 to 10 minutes
• From Hall 2 to the Upper Village = allow 15 to 20 minutes
• From Hall 5 to Hall 8 = allow 5 to 10 minutes

Following the success of last year's free public Wi-Fi service, the GSMA is once again offering free Wi-Fi service to attendees of Mobile World Congress. We have increased the coverage of the service to areas and worked closely with our partner to improve upon the Wi-Fi offered in 2011. Please note the Wi-Fi network name and password required for connecting to the free Wi-Fi service.

Network Name: MWC2012_FREE_WIFI
Password: mwc2012wifi

Free public Wi-Fi points are located in the following places:

• Hall 2.1 – GSMA Media Centre
• Hall 2.1 – Networking Lounge
• Hall 2.1 – GSMA Seminar Theatre
• Hall 3 – Courtyard Restaurant
• Hall 4 – VIP Networking Lounge
• Hall 4 – Executive Hospitality Suites
• Hall 4 – Business Centre
• Hall 5 – Entire Hall, including all Conference Locations
• Hall 7 – Auditoria A, B & C
• Hall 7 – App Planet Breakout Rooms
• Hall 7 – App Lounge
• Zone 4 – Paella Restaurant
• Access Point at Plaça Espanya
• Access Point near Hall 5
• National Palace in Montjuïc

The credentials for requirement vary based on your individual role - please consult the credentials document.

Speakers are selected on the topic relevance and originality of their submission, in addition to their proven ability in the proposed topic and overall prominence in the industry.

We reached out to past attendees on our MWC Social Media presences and asked them what’s their best ‘survival tip’ for Mobile World Congress.  You can download these additional tips here.

Have a tip of your own?  Add it to our Facebook fan page or tell us on Twitter!