From AI to satellite: Mobile World Congress 2025
Cette publication existe aussi en Français
The telecoms industry came to Barcelona in Spain this week for Mobile World Congress 2025.
Over 109,000 attendees from 209 countries came to see the latest advanced mobile technology, particularly for satellite, and AI from 2900 exhibitors. The 4YFN pavilion saw over 1,000 startups exhibiting with over 900 investors attending. Over half (56%) of the attendees were representing industries adjacent to the core mobile ecosystem.
“This year’s event showed just how fast technology is reshaping the world around us. From AI-powered networks to the future of smart mobility, the discussions this week in Barcelona will set the tone for the year ahead. What happens at MWC doesn’t stay at MWC, it sparks real change. I can’t wait to see where this momentum takes us next, particularly as we head to MWC25 Shanghai in June this year.”
While AI is everywhere, with an industrial camera using neuromorphic AI, that was so 2024, as there was significant news on the evolution of non-terrestrial networks (NTN) via satellite, with voice over NB-IoT on Nordic Semiconductor chips, the first monolithic quad band GNSS chip and a GNSS ASIC design contract for ESA.
Back on the ground. OpenRAN is less obvious but only because it has become fundamental, says Peter Claydon, CEO of UK telecom chip designer RANsemi.
“We found a general acceptance that growth in the public wireless network market is stagnating. However, we also witnessed a rise in companies deploying private 5G networks and selling equipment into them. Many of these are in-building and local area deployments based on small cells,” said Claydon.
“From a technology perspective, unsurprisingly, AI was everywhere. It’s early in the hype cycle. Though there wasn’t much talk about Open RAN, it’s clear that Open RAN is now something that’s just assumed to exist. Everyone has it, and if you don’t, that’s when the questions would be asked.”
“At RANsemi, we met with numerous existing customers during the show, and we are pleased to report that many are moving towards volume deployment,” he said. “Moreover, we’re experiencing significant growth in new customer acquisition, particularly in India and the Middle East. This is a testament to our strong market presence and increasing government support for local design and manufacturing initiatives.”
AI is also driving changes in infrastructure. Nokia saw its acquisition of Infinera go through, highlighting the move to the ‘common cloud’.
“Rather than relying on siloed environments, operators are now leveraging multi-tenant cloud platforms to optimize costs and efficiency, resulting in improved scalability, easier network management, and reduced reliance on proprietary, single-vendor ecosystems,” said Ivo Ivanov, CEO of German interconnect specialist DE-CIX.
However, this shift in infrastructure raises challenges of its own. If network operators and enterprises are consolidating workloads into shared cloud environments, they need reliable connectivity to ensure consistent, low-latency access to data.
“Public Internet connections alone won’t cut it – especially when it comes to AI inference like analytics or the use of LLMs where every millisecond counts. That’s why we’re seeing a pivot toward direct, high-speed interconnection between cloud providers, telcos, and enterprise networks in 2025, the ‘common cloud’.”
“One of the most significant announcements came from Nokia, AMD, Cisco, and Jio, which together unveiled plans for an AI-driven platform to redefine telecom operations,” he said
This aims to streamline network operations and optimize performance in real-time. “This brought to mind another trend we’re seeing emerge – that AI isn’t just a consumer-facing technology, but an embedded component in the very fabric of infrastructure,” he said.
“AI’s appetite for computing power is forcing the industry to rethink this infrastructure. With AI models growing in size and complexity, traditional cloud architectures may not be enough. Edge computing, colocation, cloud exchanges, and direct interconnection between the cloud and AI services are emerging as essential components of tomorrow’s “AI-ready” networks.
Mobile World Congress next year is from 2nd to 5th March 2026
If you enjoyed this article, you will like the following ones: don't miss them by subscribing to :
