MWC Barcelona Kicks Off With AI Focus

This year's congress, themed "The IQ Era," marks the 20th anniversary of the event in Barcelona and is set to host around 110,000 attendees with approximately 2,900 exhibitors. The focus on artificial intelligence is underpinned by significant market growth projections; the AI in telecom market is forecast to expand from around $6.23 billion in 2026 to over $203 billion by 2035. Keynotes and sessions feature a roster of industry leaders, including the CEOs of Qualcomm, AT&T, Vodafone Group, and Orange, who are addressing the industry's shift from experimentation to large-scale AI deployment. Discussions are moving beyond consumer-facing chatbots to core infrastructure topics like AI-RAN (Radio Access Network) and AI-powered network digital twins. The push to finalize 5G deployment has evolved from a "coverage race" to a "capability contest." A significant performance gap has emerged globally, with median 5G Standalone download speeds in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states now five times faster than those in Europe. By late 2025, only about one in six 5G connections worldwide utilized a true standalone network. Beyond network infrastructure, major hardware announcements include the Xiaomi 17 Ultra with advanced Leica camera technology and Honor's "Robot Phone." Lenovo is also drawing attention with concept products like a transparent laptop and a foldable gaming handheld. For the first time, MWC has made space communication an official theme under its "Intelligent Infrastructure" track. This new focus highlights the growing importance of Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) and the industry's ambition to create seamless connectivity between ground-based and satellite systems. In his opening address, GSMA Director General Vivek Badrinath emphasized the new responsibilities that come with AI. He warned that since mainstream AI models are trained on only a small fraction of the world's 7,000 languages, the technology risks widening the global "language gap." [cite: 16, 17