Vendors

Huawei has urged telecom operators to embed artificial intelligence across networks and services as the industry moves beyond the mobile internet era into what it describes as the “Internet of Agents”.

At MWC Barcelona 2026 in Barcelona, Huawei’s President of the Data Communication Product Line, Leon Wang, set out a clear message to global carriers - traditional connectivity alone will not deliver the next wave of growth.

One theme cropped up again and again at MWC26: telecom operators are under pressure to redefine their role in the AI economy. For Huawei, the answer lies in what it calls the “agentic era” - a world where AI agents increasingly handle digital tasks on behalf of people and businesses.

At the Intelligent Operations Summit held during MWC Barcelona 2026, Huawei put forward its vision for how operators can leverage their unique advantages to grow in the era of rapid AI development.

AI agents will be an integral and all-pervasive component of the developing mobile AI ecosystem and be deeply embedded in the fabric of mobile networks. In order to function effectively, these agents will need to be supported by a raft of new, advanced network features and capabilities.

On March 1, 2026, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona 2026, Stephen Shao (Vice President of Huawei's General Development Dept) and James Crawshaw (Omdia Analyst) had an in-depth discussion on the latest trends in autonomous networks (AN) L4 and AI domain.

During MWC26 Barcelona Developing Telecoms’ Director of Content James Barton sat down with Majda Lahlou Kassi, Vice President and Head of Ericsson West and Southern Africa, to discuss Ericsson’s current strategy and focus areas in Africa and the potential impact AI may have on telecom networks and services across the region in the future.

Agentic MBB will enable operators to unlock end-to-end network value by building service-oriented, system-level intelligence.

The World Broadband Association’s Director General, Martin Creaner, talks to Developing Telecoms ahead of the association’s Broadband Development Congress, held this year during Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona. The discussion focuses on the WBBA’s role in the industry’s future development, and the cooperation willingness with other SDOs (e.g. ITU-T ION-2030), as well as on two newly-launched WBBA publications – a white paper on All-Optical Target Networks and a refreshed edition of the WBBA’s Gigacity Index.

At MWC Barcelona 2026, Huawei unveiled an all-new Cloud Wi-Fi Solution for the global carrier market. The future-ready solution is designed to address escalating security challenges as industries worldwide enter a critical stage of digital and intelligent transformation. By delivering end-to-end network security for enterprises, it meets the surging demand for robust security and helps carriers explore the blue ocean of the B2B sector.

As AI workloads reshape enterprise infrastructure, data centre networks are under increasing pressure to deliver higher performance, resilience and automation.

Huawei Optical Business Product Line, unveiled a range of new next generation optical networking products and solutions during MWC26 Barcelona.

Arsjad Rasjid, President Commissioner of recently-merged Indonesian operator XLSMART, talks to Developing Telecoms about his role in the business, digital transformation and the opportunities and challenges of integrating two major network provider businesses, the experience of working with technology partner ZTE, and XLSMART goal to become Indonesia’s “most loved” company.

At MWC Barcelona 2026, Huawei unveiled its upgraded Xinghe Intelligent WAN Solution. This solution provides a stable network foundation via upgraded intelligent identification, secure encryption, reliable convergence, and intelligent O&M to address digital transformation challenges facing the ISP, government, electric power, and transportation industries.

At this year's Mobile World Congress (MWC 2026), Huawei unveiled and demonstrated its single-wavelength 2T ultra-high-speed metro solution in the optical transmission domain. Covering both terrestrial and submarine cable scenarios, this solution reduces per-bit network construction costs to enable global operators to deliver ultra-broadband, highly reliable, and agile communication services.

Ubiquitous mobile broadband coverage mandated by the universal service obligation is boosting digital inclusion around the world and accelerating progress towards the UN’s sustainable development goals for 2030.

ZTE Corporation will participate in MWC Barcelona 2026 from March 2 to 5 under the theme "Creating an Intelligent Future".

Ericsson is widely recognized as a European telecom technology leader, but its legacy in Africa is equally profound. Since installing some of the first telephone exchanges in South Africa in 1896, Ericsson has played a pivotal role in building networks across every generation; from the earliest generations to today’s advanced 5G infrastructure. Now, Ericsson is at the forefront of Africa’s next connectivity wave, enabling operators to modernize networks, expand 5G coverage, and deliver inclusive digital services, all while reducing total cost of ownership and energy consumption.

At the recent AI Innovation Asia 2025, hosted by Economist Impact, ZTE’s Chief Development Officer Cui Li spoke on the panel "How May AI Help You? Agentic AI and the Customer Experience."