Editor's note: The author, BcnIn member Rupert Cocke, is Spanish Bureau Chief for The Mergermarket Group (part of the Financial Times Group (Pearson PLC)).

The CBOSS girls are very famous at the Mobile World Congress (MWC). Every year, the Russian network services company has had a massive stand in Hall 1. They have a group of young women wearing skimpy clothes who do a Eurovision-style dance every hour on the hour throughout the show, providing a welcome splash of colour amid all the telecoms engineers in suits.

This time, though, the company crossed a line. A big poster on their stand told participants to explain new trends in their industry. The prize? A "romantic" dinner with one of the dancers. A rumour went round the show that the date would include a night in a hotel. Inevitably, the British press got hold of the story, leading to a big scandal about escorts. The GSM Association (GSMA), which organizes the show, quickly responded by killing CBOSS's contact for future years.

Although CBOSS's marketing strategy has always erred on the side of eccentricity, in other ways the company is a typical participant of the show. Mobile network operators, like Telefonica, Orange or Vodafone, need to offer consumers excellent coverage at all times and in all places. But behind the scenes, this task is fraught with technical difficulties. Clever engineering firms seek to develop software, network tools and services to help operators offer seamless services. These companies are the beating heart of the MWC, although obviously much of the press coverage focuses instead on shiny consumer gadgets and innovative mobile apps.

As a Barcelona-based financial journalist for the Mergermarket Group, I have been leading our coverage of the show since 2006. The biggest job comes in the weeks before the show. Dozens of start-up companies, mainly focused on networks, but also apps and other areas, send us emails asking if we would like to meet their CEOs. Like Jim Carrey in Yes Man, we say yes to all of them. Our team of four reporters set up as many meetings as possible. Nearly all of the CEOs have interesting stories to tell about their search for investors, their plans to list on the stock market, their interest in buying companies or technology or their decision to sell the company as soon as possible.

Our approach means that we get a great overview of how the mobile industry works. For example, this year, I saw people who have developed mobile cloud solutions for businessmen or who are developing amazing mobile video streaming technology, as well as the inevitable network service providers. One of the most interesting areas is watching how two different sectors come together. For years, this has been the case with software development and mobile phones, leading to fashionable smart phones. Other areas include finding ways to introduce renewable energy into mobile antennas and the emergence of mobile advertising and marketing.

The humble barcode is emerging as a key area. By allowing people with smart phones to scan barcodes on advertising billboards and elsewhere, companies have created a link between the physical world and the digital world. The area is awash with innovative

ideas. In years to come, we should see phones that can recognize images or logos and link to visual search engines that work without words. Imagine taking a picture of the Sagrada Familia on your smart phone and then seeing a link to its Wikipedia page and an advert for the Hotel Gaudí.

As a participant in the show, it is also interesting to just wander around between meetings and soak up a little bit of the future. This year, I saw waterproof smart phones and tablets, smart desktop phones and far too many apps to mention. With so many companies competing for attention, many opt for aggressive marketing. This might be as basic as free pens or sweets, but it is often staggeringly sexist. It can sometimes be classy, such as the caricaturists hired by Samsung to draw participants on next-generation smart-phones. There is also a conference, where bigwigs argue about technical issues, such as mobile operating systems.

The show itself is also evolving as Barcelona becomes the Mobile World Capital. From next year, it will be in the Fira's larger venue in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat instead of Montjuic. There will also be parallel events for Barcelona residents and tourists. The government of Catalonia is hoping to make Barcelona a centre of mobile innovation. The big question is whether any of the big Silicon Valley venture capital firms will set up shop here. If they do, all bets are off. If they don't, the best Catalan technology companies will continue to relocate to California as soon as they need to raise some serious money.

It is difficult to predict what next year's show will look like. Will mobile advertising have taken off? How many mobile operating systems will still be alive? How will Nokia's link with Microsoft work? Can Samsung overtake Apple? Whatever happens, one thing is certain. It looks like Eurovision-style dancing every hour on the hour will no longer be a feature of the MWC.