Barcelona mobile show hit by crime wave

Peter Gardner, sector partner for communications at venture capital firm 3i, had his wallet stolen in between getting out of his taxi and walking up the steps to register at the 3GSM World Congress, the world’s biggest mobile show. He was one of many victims of crime during the four-day show, which transferred from Cannes to Barcelona last week, drawing a record 50,000 visitors.

But Mr Gardner consoled himself with the thought that his loss must surely be some sort of record. The distance from taxi drop off to registration desk is less than 10 yards.

However, two visitors getting out of a cab outside the exhibition hall on the first morning of the show warned me against carrying my handbag around as they had already been mugged.

Mr Gardner later learned that a fellow delegate and his wife had beaten his record by “losing” one of their passports between getting off the plane and going through passport control. Another delegate said he had been set up by a friendly passenger who had travelled on the same plane as him and then offered to look after his bags at the taxi rank.

Two female staff from Sonim, a company in 3i’s portfolio that specialises in software to give mobiles walkie talkie like functions, known as push-to-talk, had money stolen. One of them was having dinner with three colleagues and had her handbag wound round her ankle, but still a thief managed to prise her wallet out without anyone noticing.

The other had the strap of her handbag cut. So when she reached down to get it, it was no longer there. Margaret Rice-Jones, a corporate vice president at US mobile company Motorola, said she’d heard that companies were losing laptop computers from meeting rooms.

Thieves also stole mobiles from Finnish mobile-phone company Nokia’s stand by cutting through the wires that bound them to the display stands, according to Mr Gardner. Other mobiles disappeared from the front pockets of people’s bags.

Some locals said the show had been targeted by east European gangs – but expatriates living in Barcelona said thefts of mobiles and wallets are rife in the city.

In fact, a second attempt was made to fleece Mr Gardner. This time he was prepared. “I think the flower seller who tried to pick my pocket was a bit surprised by the ferocity with which I responded,” he said.

Nevertheless 3i feels the show was good for business. It had hired a boat, the Mystic W, to entertain the wireless companies in its portfolio and key industry players, and got a very good turn out for its drinks parties.

“It was a bit of a risk for us as we knew the boat would be away from the show,” said Mr Gardner. “But taking an exhibition stand is just not 3i’s style.”

One of 3i’s companies, SpinVox, which converts mobile voicemails into text messages, won the Mobile Innovation Forum award at the GSM Association Awards dinner. Traffic jams in Barcelona held up her arrival as delegates’ heavy taxi use slowed traffic – but that’s another story.