Expectations for MWC 2025

It’s that time again, and excitement is building ahead of our trip to Barcelona for MWC 2025. The event is undoubtedly the most significant gathering of the year for the connected technology industry and beyond. CCS Insight will have numerous analysts on the ground, with an additional team covering the event from our London HQ.

Below are some of our top expectations for the event. You can also hear directly from our analysts in our free webinar on trends to watch at MWC 2025.

Telecom Operators

Telecom operators’ central role in the tech industry means their presence at MWC is essential. The show floor is always a highlight for CCS Insight, with giant stands from major European players such as Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefonica and Vodafone, as well as their Asian counterparts like NTT Docomo and SK Telecom.

Unsurprisingly, we expect AI to be a leading theme on operators’ stands, showcasing a range of implementations, from bolstering network performance to improving internal operations and supporting enterprise customers in their transformation journeys. We also expect a particular focus on how generative AI can enhance customer care.

Once again, network APIs will be a significant theme, something that’s been a common feature of the show over the past few years. As the number of APIs grows, it’s essential to understand how developers are engaging with these new capabilities.

Other prominent topics among operators will include private mobile networks, network slicing, satellite connectivity and early uses for 6G, most notably from Asian operators.

We also expect to see a range of partnership announcements between network operators and leading tech companies such as Google, Microsoft and Nvidia, as well as deals with AI platforms such as OpenAI.

The operator-centric conference sessions are also always worth keeping a close eye on. CCS Insight’s executive chairman, Shaun Collins, will be moderating a keynote session on Driving Europe’s Digital Future: Leadership in Action at MWC on 3 March at 15:15 (CET). The panel will feature CEOs of Vodafone, Orange, Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica.

Regulation will be a leading talking point, particularly Europe’s approach compared with the rest of the world. There’s a growing feeling that European legislators have become somewhat overzealous, which is detrimental to the region’s global competitiveness. Other key areas will include network mergers and consolidation, spectrum licensing and big tech companies contributing to the cost of deploying networks, known as the Fair Share initiative.

Network Innovation

Historically, major developments in network technology have been anchored to the traditional 10-year network generation cycle as the industry transitions from one “G” to the next. At MWC 2025, we expect AI will create a new innovation cycle that disrupts the conventional approach. Machine learning and generative AI are starting to enhance existing 4G and 5G networks with new tools and business opportunities. Also, AI is central to most discussions on 6G features, which start in earnest this year; new radio access network (RAN) business models; energy saving; and network automation.

Networks also must address the growing use of AI on mobile devices, which is resulting in new AI network requirements, particularly uplink speeds, latency and consistency. A clear focus is on how to improve cell edge performance and indoor signal to ensure end users’ AI applications and AI smartphones can work everywhere. These are all hot topics we expect to see at MWC.

A notable entity in the networks space is the AI-RAN Alliance, which launched at MWC 2024 and has quickly grown to 72 members. As a result, CCS Insight anticipates much discussion on AI’s role in the RAN across the entire show floor, both in the context of improving RAN performance and reviving edge applications, now AI-focused, and further off in acting as mini AI data centres.

Efforts to define Open RAN will also be a focus area. Large network vendors such as Ericsson are now on board, at least in their marketing, and will step up their efforts. We see smaller network vendors continuing to fight this, with arguments about Open RAN interoperability and flexibility at the heart of their position. We expect proponents of Open RAN to emphasize its role in 6G standards discussions and Open RAN’s synergy with AI RAN opportunities.

The lead network vendors will also tie AI into their network API efforts. Ericsson will be marketing its newly named network API joint venture, Aduna, alongside its increasing bank of developer and operator partners. Nokia’s equivalent “network as code” initiative will be its response.

We also predict more discussion about AI as the central technology for network automation. We expect to see network vendors advance products building on in-house telecom AI foundation models, such as those from Huawei and ZTE.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on some of the newer 5G network technology releases that build on the deployment of 5G standalone, which is quickly gathering momentum worldwide. More than 150 operators globally are investing in 5G standalone, and over 60 networks are live now. We believe this will unlock some of the services widely discussed since 2015 when 5G first burst onto the scene, but which have so far failed to deliver on those early marketing promises. Deployments of technology such as network slicing are also areas we’ll be following, particularly progress in Asia.

A final area to highlight is the lower-cost 5G Reduced Capability, or RedCap, enabled by 3GPP Release 17 and enhanced in Release 18 with the inception of eRedCap, which is explicitly designed for lower-power devices.

Satellite Connectivity

Satellite-enabled direct-to-device services have captured the industry’s imagination over the past three years, and we expect it to be a hot topic at MWC 2025.

Technology demonstrations, a beta service from T-Mobile and Starlink, new Skylo partnerships and Vodafone and AST SpaceMobile’s commercial plans are set to be major talking points.

We expect more operators to announce partnerships in this area, particularly in Europe and Asia. However, we caution that satellite services risk being overhyped given the current frenzy of interest and limited initial service availability and performance.

We’ll be monitoring developments toward 3GPP non-terrestrial network (NTN) standards, which will be key to integrating satellite services into existing cellular networks. We’ll also be attending and chairing conference sessions related to this topic to gain insights into industry expectations for the future.

On devices, we anticipate a growing availability of satellite-capable hardware — spanning smartphones, vehicles, wearables, sensors, meters and other internet of things (IoT) devices. The evolution of NTN-IoT standards is a key factor in this proliferation — see our recent Spotlight report for further analysis.

Connected Devices

It’ll come as little surprise that we expect AI to be an omnipresent theme at MWC 2025. All smartphone manufacturers will flex their AI credentials, not just in their flagship products but also in mid-range smartphones as AI features start to slide down the price curve, including operators’ own-brand devices.

The battlelines between Apple Intelligence and the broader Android device ecosystem are now clearly established, with Android players heavily dependent on Google’s Gemini AI for core features. This is beneficial because it provides consistent capabilities across different manufacturers’ devices, but the flip side is that it’s making it increasingly difficult to stand out from the crowd.

Samsung will lead the charge with its Galaxy AI platform. Still, we expect all the major Chinese device-makers to commit to their AI stories, using their individual branding — such as Honor’s Magic Portal, Oppo AI and Xiaomi’s Advanced AI.

We expect a strong presence from Chinese phone-makers, namely key players such as Honor, Lenovo, Oppo, TCL, Transsion (notably through its Infinix and Tecno brands) and Xiaomi. Europe is a more important market than ever, particularly in light of the recent changes to the US administration. Chinese manufacturers see MWC as a gateway to success as they look to establish their presence further. They’ll be talking about new smartphones and an entire ecosystem of devices spanning phones, tablets, PCs, wearables, smart glasses, smart home products, cars and more.

Flexible display technology and foldables will also provide plenty of eye candy at MWC. Don’t be surprised to see the dual-fold, triple-screened Huawei Mate XT get lots of attention despite being announced in China in September 2024. Many people in Europe still haven’t seen it and are keen to get hands-on time with this innovative device. The jury is still out on its design, but we expect other brands to follow. Samsung has consistently shown prototypes housed in its display division, and it might choose to show its latest concept devices at the show. Don’t be surprised to see other phone-makers showcase something similar too.

We also anticipate a flurry of cheaper foldables, a trend that started in 2024 with Tecno, ZTE and others. Despite these phones moving down the price curve, consumers still seem reluctant to embrace them at scale and other challenges such as the residual value of devices at the point of trade-in remain. Interestingly, our recent mobile buying survey revealed that most consumers who are hesitant to purchase a foldable phone say they’re simply happy with their current device.

The circular market is a growth area that we expect to be widely discussed at MWC from a commercial and environmental perspective. CCS Insight recently held its Circular Markets event in Paris, highlighting the opportunity in this area. For device-makers, sustainability and repairability will also be hot topics.

Other connected device trends we’ll be watching closely include the evolution of spatial computing and smart glasses. This was a prominent theme at CES in January, and we expect to see headsets and glasses from many companies, including Oppo and Samsung. We also expect a lot of discussion about the intersection of health and connected technology as the importance of predictive and preventative tracking continues to grow.

CCS Insight at MWC

The CCS Insight team will be engaged in numerous events at MWC 2025. A list of highlights can be found below. We’ll also be posting free blog articles analysing the top news stories from each day, starting on Sunday 2 March. Subscribe here to receive insights directly to your email inbox.