MWC 2026, Wednesday 4 March

In our final daily blog from MWC 2026, FDM CCS Insight’s analysts highlight their views on integration of AI in smartphones, updates to radio access network (RAN) technology, 6G demonstrations, new strategies from telecom operators and the circular economy.

You can find our analysis of the past three days’ announcements on the CCS Insight blog. Stay tuned for in-depth event reports after the show closes.

O2 Presents Its Mobile Transformation Plan

The Mobile Transformation Plan, which was announced at the start of MWC, represents O2’s planned £700 million investment in its UK mobile network this year. It mirrors a similar commitment made in 2025. O2’s network has received criticism in recent years, dragged by a weak position in spectrum as it struggled to effectively serve the 46 million cellular devices on its network.

At a presentation in Barcelona, Robert Joyce, head of mobile at O2, outlined how the new plan aims to improve reliability, capacity and coverage in the UK by deploying new masts, adding small cells and using spectrum recently acquired from VodafoneThree. He gave a special mention to improving performance in high-density areas such as stadiums and train stations as well as along transport routes, including motorways, A roads and the London Underground. A leading focus is the roll-out of 1,000 “giga sites”, which combine different spectrum bands and technologies to boost capacity. Mr Joyce also reflected on the recent launch of O2 Satellite, which he said immediately increased O2’s land-mass coverage to 95%.

Apple and MediaTek Aim to Be among the First on 6G with Ericsson Demos

Apple showed multiple radio access technology spectrum sharing (MRSS) in conjunction with an Ericsson base station on the Ericsson stand. This technology improves on earlier dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) by adding less overhead, improving performance and enhancing efficiency. It takes advantage of the more modern 5G design that lacks the continuous LTE reference signal, which complicates DSS. Because of its drawbacks, operators typically use DSS on just one spectrum band to give the appearance of wide 5G coverage. Like DSS, MRSS enables devices using different network generations to connect dynamically to the same band at once. However, the ambition with MRSS is considerably greater.

MRSS should be deployable on multiple 5G bands at once, enabling operators to offer 6G services on their existing 5G bands without having to reallocate and remove capacity from older 5G devices for 6G. This is important because 6G will only operate in standalone mode and the new 6G-specific spectrum will be capacity bands. The working MRSS demo involved two prototype iPhones, one each on 5G and 6G, connecting to the same time-division duplex (TDD) band on an Ericsson base station using “proof-of-concept technology”.

Such an early 6G demo shows Apple’s aim to be at the forefront of cellular technology. This builds and extends the success of the company’s C1 and C1X modems. Apple focused on energy efficiency, paired with a “good enough” feature set, rather than supporting the latest 3GPP standards release. Apple must have a 6G solution on day one — in other words, the most modern standard — because three of its most important global markets will also be early with 6G: China, Japan and the US. If Apple were to fail, it would need to return to licensing modems from another company — similar to how it was forced to switch from Intel to Qualcomm for its mobile phones when 5G launched. Such a switch would lead to an increase in device costs.

Also on the Ericsson stand was a demo in conjunction with MediaTek showing a data call on 6G centimetre wave. The demo used prototype MediaTek equipment as well as solutions from Keysight and Ericsson, illustrating contention-based buffer status reporting. This is a planned 6G feature that significantly reduces latency. Similar to Apple, the coordination with a leading RAN supplier highlights the importance MediaTek places on 6G development, but in MediaTek’s case, the main driver is the Chinese market.

Telefonica Showcases Titan Connect

Titan Connect is a solution aimed at business customers to provide uninterrupted connectivity, using a variety of connectivity solutions such as 5G standalone, network slicing, fibre, satellite, cloud and edge. The demonstration forms part of a broad focus among telecom operators at this year’s event to offer high-quality, reliable connectivity even in highly challenging circumstances.

The solution is aimed at a range of scenarios, including financial institutions, hospitals, stadiums, transport and energy companies. At MWC, Telefonica showcased an example of a busy football match. The intelligent network detected a person collapsing at a stadium, alerted stadium supervisors so they could interrupt the game, activated a drone to transport a defibrillator to the scene of the incident and sent the coordinates to the paramedics.

A network ecosystem in a stadium environment is one way that operators can turn their investments in 5G standalone into revenue. According to the Sports Grounds Safety Authority, in the 2024/25 season, 117 spectators were taken to hospital in the top four leagues of English football. Clubs will be keen to show they’re investing in overall safety, especially as several high-profile footballers have suffered cardiac attacks on the pitch.

This builds on the broader investment in smart and intelligent-ready buildings. By embedding technology solutions into large, fixed infrastructures, operators are supplied with consistent long-term revenue. Given the average age of Western populations, the need for fast, resilient medical solutions is expected to grow. Telefonica’s demonstration at MWC puts it in a good position.

Samsung Networks Wins at Rakuten Mobile, But Rivals Continue to Win Too

Samsung announced at MWC 2026 that it has won RAN business at Rakuten Mobile in Japan. Rakuten will take radios from across Samsung’s Open RAN-compliant portfolio for 700 MHz, 1.7 GHz and massive MIMO radios for 3.8 GHz. This is a significant win because of Rakuten’s ongoing global visibility as a provider of modern mobile network architecture that launched just a few years ago.

However, Samsung will be one of several suppliers. The company needs to build scale in its target markets. The risk is that in markets where Chinese players can’t operate, Samsung is used as a bargaining counter in supplier selection or for token, small-scale deployments, helping an operator to keep technical and delivery pressure on other suppliers.

VMware Telco Cloud Platform 9 Shifts to Operations

Broadcom announced VMware Telco Cloud Platform 9, built on VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9. The product is positioned as a private cloud platform for telco data centres designed to run 4G or 5G core network functions alongside AI workloads on a more unified stack. Broadcom leads with quantified efficiency claims, including cumulative savings of 40% over five years compared with siloed architectures and a 25% to 30% reduction in power through improved server performance and virtual machine density.

This announcement lands well given the event’s prevailing theme: AI ambition is everywhere, but enterprises are gating it on operability, governance and proof. Our survey data shows that the upgrade cycle is multifront, with data, analytics and AI leading the charge. As such, this raises the complexity of integration and operating models.

At the same time, governance has moved from “important” to “always on”. Sovereignty signals carry strong influence and ecosystems are normal, but accountability is now the battleground, with a meaningful minority of enterprises reporting confusion about who is accountable across suppliers.

Against that backdrop, VMware’s push is a bid to make cloud operations, compliance assurance and life-cycle discipline the product. This will be achieved through unified operations on VCF, GitOps-based automation, live patching and sovereignty controls such as in-jurisdiction operations, cryptographic authority and audit-grade evidence.

Our briefing with the VMware team clarified the reasons behind these pillars as VCF9 is positioned as an operational simplification step, with one life cycle, policy and security model. Sovereignty is framed as provable assurance over time (monitoring for drift and producing ongoing evidence), and revenue from AI is anchored in day-two reality, with “human in the loop” control and reduced operational friction treated as prerequisites for scale.

We’ll be watching out for proof in live deployments that operations genuinely simplify and that sovereign controls stand up under audit scrutiny. We also expect to see “private AI foundations” land first as an internal operational capability before they become a credible, repeatable enterprise offer.

Consumer Trust and Modularity Are Major Themes in the Circular Space

Circularity has played a small part at MWC this year, although its influence is certainly on the rise among major brands. Panel sessions from Likewize, SquareTrade and the GSMA illustrate that circularity remains an integral part of wider tech company strategies. A key message at the events was consumer trust. The second-hand market is continuing to mature and the memory component shortages plaguing the primary segment provide a vital opportunity. We echo the sentiment that driving trust and transparency must be a major priority for the sector. Communication about secure data wiping and increased touchpoints over the device life cycle — such as more developed repair programmes and device labelling schemes — stand out as strong initiatives.

Modularity was also a notable theme. We saw a modular ThinkPad laptop from Lenovo that scored a 10/10 repairability score from iFixit. Easily swappable batteries and modular USB ports were among the notable features that iFixit believed propelled the product to an industry-leading repairability mark. Lenovo continues to lead the way in the laptop segment with its tangible efforts to drive repairability and circularity.

Elsewhere, we were able to get our hands on Tecno’s prototype of an ultraslim modular phone. We were impressed by the design and aesthetics, enabling users to customize their phone’s hardware. We’ve seen several modular smartphones over the past few years, notably led by Fairphone, and they remain a niche. However, we expect that replacement cycles will extend over the next few years in reaction to price rises because of the memory shortage; modular devices may grow their market share as people seek devices that can last several years and are easily repairable and customizable.

Google and Back Market Pilot Highlights Enterprise Device Circularity Gap

Back Market and Google announced a pilot programme at MWC that distributes preloaded ChromeOS Flex USB sticks designed to convert ageing PCs and Macs into lightweight cloud-based devices. The approach enables organizations to repurpose older laptops for cloud-based work rather than replacing them, extending the usable life of existing hardware.

The announcement highlights a structural imbalance in enterprise device circularity. Our research shows that circular practices are strongest at the end of the device life cycle but rarely influence procurement decisions. Most organizations now operate three-to-five-year refresh cycles for primary devices such as laptops and desktop PCs as part of more disciplined life-cycle management. However, procurement still overwhelmingly favours new hardware, even though 75% of employees say they would be happy to use refurbished or recycled devices.

Initiatives such as ChromeOS Flex point to the next step in enterprise circularity by enabling older devices to remain productive in cloud-based work environments. If widely adopted, this approach could help organizations extend refresh cycles, reduce unnecessary replacement and bring circular thinking earlier into enterprise device strategies rather than limiting it to end-of-life processing.

Tecno Expands AI and Ecosystem Focus with Camon and Device Launches

As well as its modular smartphone, Tecno announced its latest flagship line-up with the Camon 50, 50 Pro and 50 Ultra 5G. As with almost all other smartphone launches, AI was a major feature, with Tecno promoting the AI RAW 2.0 imaging engine that delivers the “industry first” AI Auto Zoom feature. However, many of the AI tools — such as photo editing, photo enhancements and an AI assistant — have rapidly become table stakes, even for mid-tier phones. Despite the major pressure Tecno faces because of the memory component shortage, the specifications of the 50 Ultra 5G are more than adequate, if lacking major upgrades from its predecessor.

Beyond smartphones, Tecno also announced a new tablet, smartwatch and earbuds. These devices are unified by the newly launched Tecno OneLeap software, aimed at simplifying the interconnectivity of devices. Moreover, the company also announced a partnership with luxury design brand Tonino Lamborghini on the Pova Metal Limited Edition phone, earbuds, a tablet, a laptop and the second generation of its mini gaming PC.

Tecno chose not to reveal any prices during the launch event, potentially indicating some hefty increases given memory challenges. A focus on design, style and AI features over major hardware improvements outside the camera reflects the market conditions in which Tecno must now compete.

OCUDU Initiative Highlights Red Hat’s Role in Open Telecom Ecosystems

The Linux Foundation used MWC to highlight the OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation, an open-source initiative focused on developing software for next-generation RAN. The project brings together operators, infrastructure suppliers and software providers to create a shared framework for cloud-native RAN platforms and AI-driven networking capabilities.

The initiative reflects a broader shift in telecom infrastructure. As network functions move away from proprietary appliances toward software running on cloud-native platforms, influence within the ecosystem increasingly sits in shared software frameworks and open-source communities rather than individual suppliers. Therefore, participation in initiatives like OCUDU carries strategic importance for technology providers seeking visibility in the future telecom stack. Red Hat’s presence as a member of the ecosystem reflects its effort to remain closely aligned with these collaborative development models and to position its open-source platforms in the infrastructure layer that will underpin future software-defined networks.

Salesforce Targets the Telco “Messy Middle”

Salesforce used MWC 2026 to launch Agentforce for Communications, featuring five telecom AI agents covering billing dispute resolution, service level objective insights, complex quoting, multisite configuration, and guided selling for field teams. The pitch is that these agents can pull live context from CRM, operations support systems and business support systems so they don’t just “chat” but can help drive action.

The most credible angle is the focus on the workflows that usually break in telecoms, such as quote-to-order fallout, billing trust gaps and field visits that rarely convert into commercial moments. In our discussion, Salesforce emphasized a trust layer and model-agnostic positioning to reduce the hard work of getting agentic systems into production.

We advise operators to watch for integration depth and governance to determine outcomes. They should probe what is genuinely live rather than on the road map, where autonomy ends and audit begins, and how data quality issues are handled before they scale any agent beyond tightly bounded scenarios.

HMD Retreats to Feature Phones Enhanced with New Features

Phone-maker HMD used MWC to announce its plan to add enhanced functionality to feature phones, including video calling, an AI assistant and a digital wallet, describing the new products as “smart feature phones”.

We expect that pressure from the widely reported memory component shortage has made it harder for HMD to compete profitably in the low- and mid-tier Android smartphone space, so returning to its roots makes sense.

HMD is best known for offering Nokia-branded devices, but its licensing agreement of the iconic brand is coming to an end. It’s now looking to try to breathe life into the feature phone category by adding smartphone-like capabilities. The primary goal is to bring essential digital services to billions of people who remain underconnected and in underdeveloped markets.

For example, a voice interface that includes some AI elements allows users to make calls, set alarms, turn on the torch and get quick answers to simple questions, such as weather updates. If a user asked for help because it’s dark, the phone would turn on the torch.

Beyond emerging markets, HMD also sees an opportunity to improve usability for older users who could benefit from some of these capabilities, such as a voice interface or basic video calling to an app installed on a smartphone.

Huawei Unveils SmartCare Intelligence Solution

During the Intelligent CEM Forum, Huawei launched an AI-native solution focused on helping operators improve customer satisfaction by applying AI to analyse the user, traffic and experience status on the network. The scenarios identified and launched alongside the solution include complaint management, improving net promoter scores, assuring the experience for high-value customers and hyper-personalized marketing.

Huawei frames this as an opportunity for operators to “quickly close the loop on issues” and generate business value by ultimately creating revenue and growth. The launch demonstrates Huawei’s increasing push into AI-centric networks and reflects the wider industry shift toward embedding AI throughout the network infrastructure.

We’ll be writing a full Insight Series report on the major themes from this year’s event, available for clients on CCS Insight Connect. If you’d like to discuss any of the stories we touched on in our coverage of MWC, please get in touch.