2024-02-26T08:08:23.630Z

Good morning from Day One of MWC 2024! After battling through Barcelona’s iconically bad traffic, we’re at the Fira, ready for the kick-off.

First up on the agenda today is the opening keynote. Hosted by GSMA Director General Mats Granryd, the panel is a seriously star-studded affair, with the heads of Vodafone, Telefonica, Orange, China Mobile and Centillion AI taking to the stage, under the theme of “The Art of What’s Possible”.

2024-02-25T14:24:37.218Z

Over in B2B world though, we do have some breaking news…

Australian mobile operator introduces what it calls first proof-of-value engine for 5G slicing

Telstra may not be one of the biggest mobile networks in the world but its 5G slicing technology will definitely grab the attention of many. It allows the MNO to create multiple virtual networks with different performance variables to deliver QoS on a per customer basis. “What’s groundbreaking about this development is that it allows us to commit to a minimum performance level for a customer, then measure and report on the slice performance to know if the slice is performing as designed.” commented Shailin Sehgal, Telstra Executive Network Applications and Cloud. Telstra partnered with Ericsson for this slicing product and is on display within the Ericsson Hall at MWC.

2024-02-25T14:23:09.255Z

Although the show itself officially begins on Monday 26th, some companies have already held launch events or released news early, given the number of announcements jostling for attention at MWC.

As reported over on our sister site TechRadar, this includes Honor, which has unveiled its latest flagship smartphone, the Magic 6, earlier today.

Elsewhere, competitor phone brand HMD Global has teamed up with toymaker Mattel to release a retro-tastic flip phone featuring full-on Barbie branding, capitalizing on the biggest film of last year.

2024-02-23T15:54:37.014Z

So what are we expecting to see at MWC 2024? The TechRadar Pro team give their thoughts and predictions…

Desire Athow, Managing Editor, TechRadar Pro

You will not be able to walk down the halls of La Fira without hearing vendors pitching ad nauseam  AI-infused hardware, software or services; blame the meteoric rise of Generative AI – and ChatGPT – for that. MWC’s agenda will be dominated by artificial intelligence, either on the client side (with AI PC for example) or on the infrastructure side, as the industry’s rate of adoption of AI reaches an all time high. Against that backdrop, one of the key themes of this year’s conference, “humanising AI”, is particularly pertinent. I expect to hear a lot more about next generation connectivity as well with the usual suspects showing their latest research on 6G and beyond. 2024 may also be the year where MWC shuns B2C completely with barely any major consumer-facing devices expected to be introduced. 

Mike Moore, Deputy Editor, TechRadar Pro

MWC is now fully restored to its place as the biggest and best mobile technology show in the world, and we have big hopes for this year’s show. I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing a lot more about the work going towards the deployment of 6G technology, and how AI is doubtlessly set to play a massive part in this.