March 3, 2025

MWC Day 1 Recap, Day 2 Watchlist

AI dominated Day 1, but is it real innovation or just another buzzword? 5G was also in focus, though discussions often strayed from monetisation, leaving key questions about ROI unanswered..

A big thank you to Tony and Luanna, who’ve been attending talks I couldn’t make it to – keeping me up to date, sharing insights, and helping shape our take on these key topics.

📌 Our thoughts on AI

We expected AI to be the buzzword at this year’s MWC, but its scale – in both the exhibition halls and on the stage – surpassed even our expectations. The problem? Many companies feel pressure to ‘do something with AI’ rather than solve real problems. At Cellusys, we focus on the challenge first, then the technology – sometimes it’s AI, but often it’s not. Let’s use our Human Intelligence when we apply AI!

With so much AI noise, real value is hard to find. We were particularly keen to see new, innovative, well-explained use cases. Some interesting takeaways:

  • Data privacy concerns remain – Telenor Norway launched an AI factory to “process sensitive data securely on Norwegian soil”, a model we expect to see replicated to enable the potential of AI while conforming with regulatory requirements.
  • AWS and Orange shared a PoC called Gen GraphRCA (root cause analysis). This is essentially a ‘dark NOC’ – NOC with minimal human involvement. This would replace the traditional NOC’s human-driven root cause analysis. This practical AI application—enhancing efficiency—stood out among the hype.
  • Google Cloud discussed the potential in using the vast amounts of telco data to optimise the whole customer journey – this is obviously a powerful idea, though one that raises privacy concerns.
  • VEON took a very practical approach, promoting the re-use of existing models – this aligns with the Cellusys best-of-breed approach to technology
  • The GSMA Open-Telco LLM Benchmarks community is aiming to to provide transparent AI model evaluations across capabilities, energy efficiency, and safety – more here.

Overall, some interesting takeaways—but one thing remains constant: AI claims are often exaggerated. As ever, it’s best to scrutinise everything and take it with a large pinch of salt.

📌 Our Thoughts on 5G

The rollout of 5G Standalone remains slow, with operators still hesitant about ROI on its most ambitious use cases. Over the past year, we’ve seen some deployment progress, but little movement on the most disruptive promises—network slicing included.

There were some interesting 5G agendas, but the reality was underwhelming. We attended “Monetising 5G Networks and 5G-Advanced Technologies”, hoping some of the concerns would be addressed. Instead, most of the session focused on Open Gateway use cases and AI (again!). What stood out most was what wasn’t said—there was little discussion of network slicing, private networks, or real-life 5G use cases. Almost all monetisation opportunities presented were around Open Gateway and AI and could apply to any network, 5G or not. The questions we had before MWC remain unanswered—it’s still unclear if or when 5G Standalone’s promises will materialise.

Day 2 Watchlist

On Day 2, we’ll focus on Open Gateway and security. We’ve already heard much about Open Gateway today and will be piecing together a full picture of the landscape tomorrow. Security will also take center stage, with dedicated sessions covering the latest challenges.

Next update after Day 2!

Dan, Tony, and Luanna

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March 3, 2025