Over 100,000 attendees from 205 countries and territories descended on Barcelona for this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) to listen, share and network on the latest technologies, products and services that are shaping the future of mobile communications and society.   

In this blog, we highlight some of the key insights and trends that emerged from the MWC 2024, based on our observations and analysis of exhibits and stakeholder interactions at the event.  

Overall observation:  

Despite inevitable instances of greenwashing and AI-washing, the industry is undergoing rapid transformation. The combined impact of the drivers of cloudification, sustainability and AI-driven automation has the potential to make the industry unrecognisable within 5 years. This year’s event has shown that industry forces can no longer be resisted by incumbents. This will not only have an impact on the business models of the big vendors but also on the big national and transnational operators. The industry still struggles to properly support the complex needs of all the different and diverse industries that stand to benefit from 5G-SA, 5G-Advanced, NTN, IoT and Private Networks. While the mobile industry is focused on its internal transformation, telecom end-users from various non-telecom industries have little other option but to continue to turn to independent specialists who are equally focused on understanding their needs and requirements as they are competent in the complex and fast-evolving telecom solutions that can help transform their businesses.  

1. Not surprisingly, AI was present at the event. This hype is by far not unique to this industry, so it often felt like it was a matter of “AI with everything”. Most AI applications presented at the event are focused on removing or reducing human labour from telco industry front-office functions (e.g. customer care call centres) or back-office functions (i.e. network management, orchestration, and optimisation, in what used to be called “self-organising networks” a mere 5-10 years ago in the pre-AI era). Deep dive and detailed domain expertise are often necessary to scratch beneath the hype layer to determine and reveal whether something is truly a novel or groundbreaking AI solution or a repackaging of earlier algorithmic approaches dressed in AI clothing.
   
2. Greener and more sustainable networks were another key theme and felt a lot more tangible than in previous years. Device manufacturers showcased their sustainable supply chains, and vendors (from telco cloud to antennas) showcased initiatives to reduce energy use, by optimising their components and architectures.
3. Silicon diversification serving to reduce power consumption by employing more power-efficient core architectures in the telco cloud, in the RAN and the RF chain alike was also showcased. Intel, Qualcomm, ARM, Marvel, Nvidia and others are all stepping up in this space, and the increased competition is likely great news for vendors, who will be spoiled for choice of silicon suppliers for their computing platforms. However, this creates an interesting techno-economic decision conundrum, of which silicon and compute platform to use for which application. Real Wireless has developed advanced energy and TCO modelling frameworks to help answer this exact question. This has been made possible by working within the trailblazing R&D ecosystems of the DSIT-funded PROTEUS and REASON projects and the EU’s Horizon Europe TrialsNet project.
4. Cloud-native telco strategies are also coming of age. Numerous players showcased full, vertically pre-integrated but notionally interchangeable telco cloud stacks. DELL, HPE, Lenovo and other compute providers showcased the telco cloud architectures they supply to vendors and operators, mixing diverse virtualisation, orchestration, and acceleration solutions in these stacks. Operators also showcased how they can run their network across diverse compute architectures, indicating that fully compute-agnostic networks are now a case of when not if. Telco cloud partnerships between Nokia and Dell and between Ericsson and Verizon also featured, indicating ongoing resistance from the traditional telco vendors to let go of their supply chain consolidator role.
5. 5G Standalone and 5G Advanced begin to come of age, with numerous operators announcing the commercial launches of their 5G-SA propositions and vendors discussing their 5G Advanced roadmaps. The industry reluctantly recognises that the incremental business case for 5G cannot be fulfilled by 5G NSA and eMBB alone – the focus of most 5G operators so far. Industry expectations are now moving to increased adoption and monetisation of 5G-SA by industry verticals, with operators, vendors and an increasing cohort of non-telecom industry players showcasing autonomous vehicles, robotics, healthcare, manufacturing and other advanced 5G applications and use cases. The next few years will serve to prove or disprove these expectations and the industry’s ability to execute these strategies. These new user cohorts seeking to understand, analyse, adopt and monetise these complex 5G technologies beyond the hype layer, will require expert independent advice and partnerships with independent telecom specialist consultants, like Real Wireless.
6. NTN: Concerns regarding network coverage gaps – especially for use by applications requiring near-ubiquitous coverage, including autonomous vehicles, V2X and emergency or public services – can be addressed by satellite-5G convergence. There is increasing progress, enthusiasm and investment in this space, with Deutsche Telekom and other terrestrial and satellite operators showcasing integrated 5G NTN solutions, including LEO (Low Earth Orbit) and HAPS (High Altitude Platforms). The practical business models, availability roadmaps and implementation complexities for the end-users of these hybrid connectivity solutions are less apparent, as is the positive or negative impact they might have on terrestrial operators’ revenues. Further work is needed to untangle all of these areas.
7. On the matter of changing value chains, the jury is still out on the role of neutral host networks and private networks in future value chains. 5G is still considered by some private network service/solution providers too expensive for many private mobile applications, compared to 4G. The relaunch by Vodafone and Lime Microsystems of a smaller (and presumably more cost-effective) “5G network in a box” could be an indicator of how to democratise Private 5G and the digital transformation promises it could deliver to businesses and communities, especially when combined with the presence of low-cost, ubiquitous LEO (Low Earth Orbit) global coverage.
8. Open RAN seems to have come of age. Numerous Open RAN initiatives have made public announcements or updates, committing to commercial deployments at scale, including Vodafone with Samsung, NTT with NEC and Fujitsu and even AT&T with Ericsson! Vendors and operators appear to finally recognise that the wave of innovation brought forward by the Open RAN community has played a major part in driving silicon diversification, power efficiency and TCO optimisation and the scepticism and fence siting of recent years is very much absent. However, there is a palpable frustration in many of the Tier 2/3 Open RAN vendors that it is taking as long as it is and that the volume of deals enjoyed by Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei remains only a tantalising goal barely beyond reach. Real Wireless is actively supporting the Open RAN ecosystem, covering both the technical and techno-economic aspects.

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