With the decision of Cisco Systems not to attend in person at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona 2021 at the end of June, added to the withdrawals of Facebook, Oracle, Sony, Nokia, British Telecom and Ericsson, the "physical" holding of the event begins to be questioned at the same time that the organizer, GSMA, maintains the viability of the physical presence based on the protocols and security plans implemented, such as the mandatory negative test every 72 hours, contact tracing through applications and the infrastructure of the facilities and the distancing.

Nokia argued that they will only participate virtually given the international nature of the event and that the vaccine is still in its early phases. If it were to take place physically, it is estimated that the Barcelona MWC would gather half, or less, of the attendees it had in 2019.