sometimes a seat is all you need to allow the big ideas to grow. we're bringing environmental conservation to life with learning, like global ideas. we will show you how climate change and environmental conservation is taking shape around the world and how we can all make a difference. knowledge grows through sharing, download it now. the the, the after 6 months of condemning high the nation, the world's biggest telecommunications trade show is opening a door in boston, one other mobile world congress gets on the way. we talk to the director general of the telecom carriers association, g s m 8th to find out what to expect. also coming up lebanon's pounds tumble. so

the countries economic crisis deepens the world bank, call us that one of the histories, worst depression. welcome to d, w. business, i'm going to get johnson berlin, but barcelona is back. the mobile world congress is opening its doors to day mobile operators, device manufacturers, and to technology providers from around the world. come together to present new technology, ideas and share industry knowledge. the theme of this year's event is connected impact. the program will explore how artificial intelligence, 5 g, big data, and internet of things will shape the future and continue to transform life. and certainly a main topic. the ongoing pandemic and the role mobile technology played, especially over the past year and a half. now king philip of spain was present at last night's opening dinner and had this to say. therefore,

today i would like to acknowledge publicly and applaud and thank the role played by mobile connectivity not only in the professional sphere, but also in the private sphere helping and accompanying older people, people in hospital and those who are alone, keeping them in touch with their families during the lockdown mass grand ridge is the director general of telecom carriers association, g s m a, which organizes the mobile world congress. and which celebrates this year's m, w. c with a slogan back to business back to barcelona. first of all, very good to have you with us and is this m w c really simply back to business? it is. it's going to be a very different show, obviously not as large as previous years. while we have the quality remains. we have fantastic keynote speakers, we have space x,

where we have done and are always done on tail. could be, are we have plenty of ceos, you know, this is all around creating new businesses and we will see a new business being created here this week. ok, so you mentioned some of the highlights, certainly in terms of speakers. what about technology? where is telecommunications headed next? yeah, well as you know, 5 d is being rolled out as we speak and when we cancelled the show in the february 2020 there were only a few, 5 the networks out and being alive today. we have more than 165, the gross live in the concrete. so 5 d has really taken off. and in fact, when we compare the rollout speed of the connectivity speed between 5, g and 4, g, we see that the pick up is 40 percent quicker with 5 d than while it was with 4 g.

and i think the pandemic has shown the way i showed the way on how important connectivity is. imagine if we would face the pad that make with no means of communication, no means of being online or mean. so sitting at home and working, it would be a completely different ball game that while we have faith, it has been very tough for, for all of us during the past the year and a half, 2 years. but certainly we are in a better place and i think you would see mobile operators really cherishing center stage. really try to make sure that we are a society stay connected and stay in the business with life. and this, this m w. c 2021 is the center. right. up the pandemic toward the industry. anything? cuz you mentioned about time port and connectivity is else we all would have been very, very lonely. hasn't had any impact. do you view your role in telecommunications

differently? no, that's the, that's a really good question and i think, yes, absolutely. i think we have been somewhat taken back by the dissenters center stage that we have taken that it's not just communication at lester. this is now a critical piece of communication and connectivity for the planet. it is affecting the 17 s t v. so you can see that i have that on my left paddle here, the united nations, 17 sustainable development goals, and we're affecting all 17 of them. everything from inclusion to gender equality, to no poverty, to hunger, education and health. so certainly i think that it is dawn, dawn on us that connected with the is a center stage and we take that responsibility with, with our most serious. so turning it around, is this still a need for in person conferences and meetings at all?

oh, absolutely. say i, you will see here that this show is a hybrid show where, you know, we're going to have 30000 physical people here. but we're also going to have several thousands of people in virtual mode. so this is a, a 1st attempt of having a proper hybrid show where we will interact with people on line versus people physically here, obviously being physically pressed, that gives you a completely different experience. yet if you are in a virtual mall, you will still be able to enjoy many of the benefits of, of be part of the show. my grand rates, their director, general g s m a. thank you so much for your time. all the best for the days ahead and continue to stay safe. thank you so much. thank you. by by a tragedy is unfolding in lebanon. inflation has driven the country's currency to historical lows. the crush highlights

a grave economic crisis that has left half the population living below the poverty line. fire and fury on the streets of beirut. lebanon is descending fast into an economic crisis that the world bank says will likely rank among the worlds worst of the last 150 years. now, out of all the people are hungry, no one has anything to eat. there's no electricity in our homes. children need milk, no one can afford to buy it. that's why we're here. west some streets witness protests. others host long lines of cars queuing for a share of lebanon's, insufficient supply of gasoline, shortages, pushing up the cost of many essentials. the price is subsidized. bread has been hiked 5 times this year alone. citizens are also getting much less money because of record inflation. lebanese pound has been trading in an old time high on the black markets at over 10 times its official rates against the us dollar. the crisis is

largely the result of 3 decades of financial mismanagement by successive governments following 11 and civil war. but it's been made even worse by a global pandemic, and the billions of dollars of damage caused by last year deadly blast didn't support an outrage. lebanese public, once the government to solve the crisis fast with the economy on course to contracts by 20 percent this year. the problems are far from over the w special. i read the joint us from bay root bustle. the reports were getting paid a very big picture of lebanon. what's the situation where you are? we were talking before the previous month about the state of the threefold economic state in 3 of 3 fold. now we are talking about collapse about how because there will be no soft landing according to all experts, financial economy experts. and then they talking about how to crash that and

thought to collapse. to do today, according to the, at 8 financial aid told us dollars according to the black markets rates today, it's most i'm more than 90 percent of its value against the u. s. dollar. the minimum wage. no, and not cutting today at 2, today's rate is $50.00 per month, which means $1.00 per day. we're talking about more than 55 percent of the nation on and below the poverty line. so, so we can talk about it, buddy. the magic situation and london right now. the mean line with as many worlds are blocked by, by people. they're asking the government to act. unfortunately, that is no one is hitting their sounds of the people like no. so how can lebanon pull itself out of this terrible crisis? we have to talk about 15 of 1st of all, corruption, 2nd mismanagement,

and monopole is. and so all of these, all these substantive mixed together with a corrupted political rulers that lead to this critical situation. right, and a situation hopefully that town dissolved, eventually bustle already there from bay route. thank you so much for your time. thank you. well change of gear. nicholas. ah, comfortable and durable, but eventually they to need some tender love and care about when they start up has long been specializing and patching up a worn out sneakers. now they also sell their own sustainably made shoes, including one repair. this is the latest in sneak of fashion 1st fair made by berlin cobbler hog. and mutter shack start up sneakers rescue $200.00 euros a shot, including one repair. so they can last up to a decade on golf,

nemo. and so, you know, just buying issue, you're buying a shoe, including the cost of repair and final disposal. when you've had them on non stop for a year. and the souls going through will replace the entire soul because we have the original components. then they go back to the customer ready for and of the season life, even if it's almost impossible to find original components to repair, brand, name, sneakers, a headache for me to check and his team. so the idea for an own brand sneak was born made in germany under jim and working conditions, taking shape in perma sense 700 kilometers away at the foot where innovation lab, the leather. so i'm blind come from germany or other e u countries, just about as fair as it gets. fear while you're here, the sad because we stick to the working standards here. and of course the materials are manufactured in line with the regulations. that means no child,

labor adherence to health and safety regulations, and of course, their pay we'll pay above tariff here. a sneak of produced in germany is a rarity most a made in asia and n g o, like in quarter, say that work is they're still being exploited is in its wrong, we see forced over time high health risks. there's a lot of informal work in the factories on the any form of working contracts and so on. and the worst problem is that people can defend themselves against that, because the unions are suppressed that looked van jim and he's industry association denies that points to its cooperation with the caps program that's supposed to ensure adequate environmental and social standards in global shoe production. it's not going to start off to say we rely very much on our members self regulation. ultimately, the one kits that means old can members have agreed to maintain the stand for it. and if we hear about any grievances,

we are proactive and insist there. and he had to hold on. the 1st 1st sneaker is about to go into production. if it sells well, mattie checked plans, his own production line in berlin, he's playing with the idea of one follow up model. but no more. he says more than that would be on sustainable method from the business desk at this hour for boy, you can always go to our website at www dot com slash business. and for me, in that in thanks for watching. ah, we've got some hot tips for your bucket list. the magic corner spots personally, and some great culture memorial to boot w travels off, we go. women in asia in speaking.

that's nice little for them all money and lunch. and on the, the only way i can be on top is to create my own. i see there landing stories. ah, i phone my life. this weekend on d. w. ah, ah, me on yellow spine, on the soccer coach down to his bones. he's achieved far more than just mentoring successful youth teams on the greek island applies both spinal has set up

a soccer club just for refugees on the island. thanks to his efforts. young refugees like paws from cameroon. can dream of professional sports careers? the ah there's little left of the moria refugee camp, unless both 4th and 12000 people lived here for a while in and around the camp until it burned down in september of 2020 some time alone to display nice, i don't like yours and maria. he doesn't like looking back on a time that was difficult for him, but it was filmed the raging blade.