Amdocs, NTT Docomo and CommScope are the latest MWC casualties

Add three more major exhibitors to the growing list of companies deciding not to risk coronavirus infection at Mobile World Congress 2020, and they won’t be the last.

Software vendor Amdocs is at the heart of the telecoms industry and usually has one of the most prominent stands at the big telecoms trade show of the year. Japan’s NTT Docomo is the first major operator to decide discretion is the better part of valour when it comes to combining novel pathogens with foreign climes, while CommScope is a major fixed-line infrastructure player.

“In the face of the public health concern from the novel coronavirus, we are placing the highest priority on protecting the health of our employees, customers and partners,” said Shuky Sheffer, CEO of Amdocs. “While we appreciate the precautionary measures put into place by the GSMA, we believe the safest option is not to attend MWC 2020 in Barcelona.”

So far NTT seems to have only made the announcement in Japanese, but the magic of Google translate yielded the following: “At present, the impact of the new coronavirus is expanding, and we were planning to exhibit from February 24 (Monday)-February 27 (Thursday) 2020. In consideration of the safety of the visitors, partner companies and staff members, we decided to cancel the exhibition.”

“With the continued global threat of the Coronavirus, CommScope has made the decision to cancel our physical presence at Mobile World Congress 2020 in Barcelona,” said the CommScope announcement. “This is not a decision our executive team took lightly, and although the likelihood of contracting the virus is low, we will not risk the health of our employees, nor the business impact that would result if a quarantine were ordered.”

These latest announcements take the total to nine major contributors bailing on the big telecoms trade show of the year in the past few days, including many of its largest exhibitors. If this rate of cancellation keeps up there won’t be many left by the time Mobile World Congress 2020 opens its doors on the morning of 24 February.