There are already 5 tech giants that have announced that they will not attend the Mobile World Congress (MWC), considered the largest mobile fair in the world and scheduled to take place at the end of June in Barcelona.

Ericsson (ST: ERICb ), Nokia (HE: NOKIA ), Sony (T: 6758 ), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB ) and Oracle (NYSE: ORCL ) have announced this week that they will not participate, at least in person , before the effects of the pandemic.

Sources from the sector would have commented to El Economista that there are serious doubts from large companies about whether or not to attend the event, due to the influence of the coronavirus pandemic.

And it is that the organization is playing a lot with this edition, since, according to Business Insider , if it is not finally held, GSMA -organizer of the event- must return the 9.5 million euros that the 3 large linked Spanish administrations gave it to this appointment: Central Government, Generalitat and City Council. 

The economic sector of Barcelona already suffered  a severe blow last year with the suspension of the Mobile World Congress  due to the coronavirus. The organizers expected to exceed 110,000 attendees from 200 different countries and generate an economic impact of  492 million euros and some 14,000 temporary jobs  in the city during its edition. A square meter costs around 1,200 euros, according to El Mundo .