MWC26 Day 1: AI Reshapes the Foundation of Intelligent Networks, Vendors Race to Secure 6G Position

On March 2nd, local time, the world’s largest mobile communications exhibition, MWC2026 (Mobile World Congress), officially opened in Barcelona. Amid the current AI boom, communication, as a vital part of basic information services, is actively reconstructing the foundation of intelligent networks through AI to better serve the roles and tasks of the intelligent era. Additionally, the next-generation mobile communication technology, 6G, is approaching, with Huawei, Qualcomm, and other companies actively promoting industry evolution toward 6G.

At the opening ceremony on the 2nd, Vivek Badrinath, the new president of GSMA (GSM Association), stated that three major challenges still stand in front of the industry. He mentioned that the first is completing the 5G journey, calling for continued investment in 5G SA. The second challenge is to meet AI-related challenges. The third is to ensure network and data security.

Huawei MWC2026 Exhibition Area

Embracing AI to Reconstruct the Foundation of Intelligent Connectivity

The three pillars of digital society are cloud, AI, and mobile networks. If we see the intelligent world as a vast fabric, then connectivity is the thread weaving this intelligent fabric.

At Huawei’s booth, the “AI-Centric Network” is positioned at the core. Huawei proposes building AI-centered networks, firmly advancing 5G-A, and laying the groundwork for 6G evolution. Huawei states that AI and networks are accelerating their integration, with Huawei adding intelligence to the AI-Centric Network to create the target network for the era of intelligent internet, helping operators improve operational efficiency, network quality, and commercial monetization.

At this MWC, Huawei, in partnership with TM Forum and other industry players, jointly announced the first A2A-T intent interface, supporting cross-domain and cross-vendor intelligent collaboration. Through minimal integration, it connects upper-layer services with lower-layer networks, enabling precise translation of intents (such as providing differentiated services for VIP users during concerts), allowing innovative services to adapt flexibly and be deployed quickly. Huawei will also release wireless intelligent agents (RAN Agent) based on communication large models and wireless digital twin systems (RDTS), capable of resource scheduling around services and greatly simplifying operations, achieving intent-driven wireless domain autonomy.

Ericsson representatives stated during the communication session that, due to the intertwined nature of AI, cloud, and advanced connectivity, the concept of an “Intelligent Fabric” has now been proposed.

“Firstly, with the development of AI, more inference will occur at the edge. Meanwhile, distributed intelligent workflows exist extensively across various terminal environments, such as smartphones, smart glasses, sensors, vehicles, drones, embodied intelligence, etc.” Ericsson noted that these intelligences continuously interact, collaborate in learning, and act on a machine timescale.

Ericsson emphasizes that as the infrastructure for digitalization and intelligence, our networks need to evolve synchronously, actively embracing AI, and generating cognitive capabilities based on Agentic AI, thereby possessing autonomous perception, prediction, thinking, and action abilities.

Huawei’s First Overseas Showcase of Atlas 950 SuperNode and Other Computing Products

Beyond network intelligence, Huawei has also debuted its computing supernodes in the overseas market for the first time. At this MWC, Huawei showcased the latest Atlas 950 SuperPoD, TaiShan 950 SuperPoD, and other supernode models and solutions, emphasizing open-source openness, collaborating with industry partners to build an open and win-win computing ecosystem, and creating a solid foundation for computing power to offer new options worldwide.

Huawei pioneered the UnifiedBus interconnection protocol for supernodes, innovating through a “cluster + supernode” system-level architecture to continuously meet the growing demand for computing power and promote AI development.

Huawei representatives explained that the latest supernode product, Atlas 950 SuperPoD, built on the UnifiedBus, supports up to 8192 cards via UnifiedBus interconnection, featuring ultra-high bandwidth, ultra-low latency, and unified memory addressing. It functions logically like a computer capable of learning, thinking, and working, suitable for large model pre-training. The TaiShan 950 SuperPoD is designed for general computing scenarios, such as search and recommendation in e-commerce platforms.

Industry Races for 6G Positioning

2025 is widely regarded as the “Year of 6G Standardization” in the industry. There is a consensus that 6G will not only represent a linear enhancement of communication system capabilities but also become a platform for deep integration with AI, fostering technological innovation through collaboration. Communication networks are shifting from “data pipelines” to “intelligent foundations,” supporting personal agents, embodied intelligence, and digital upgrades across industries, becoming a crucial infrastructure in the AI era.

During the exhibition, Huawei announced the U6GHz full-scenario product series and solutions, fully unleashing the potential of 5G-A networks with innovative technology, supporting smooth evolution toward 6G, and building a robust foundation for high-capacity, high-experience, and low-latency mobile AI applications.

Huawei states that currently, 5G-A has become the mainstream commercial technology for global operators and a focus for business innovation and future evolution. The U6GHz band, with its large bandwidth and excellent coverage, is becoming a key frequency for 5G-A evolution and commercialization. Since WRC-23, U6GHz has been established as a critical global mobile communication band. Countries like China, the UAE, Brazil, and several European nations are actively promoting spectrum identification, licensing, and testing. In the industry chain, mainstream CPE and smartphones are expected to be commercially available from 2026, paving the way for large-scale U6GHz deployment.

Before the full standardization process of 6G begins, Qualcomm has already invested systematically in multiple frontier technologies, leading industry R&D, and shaping 6G as an end-to-end system—covering terminals, networks, and computing infrastructure—enabling AI to operate optimally within the system and realizing a collaborative architecture of “cloud computing advantages, stable network support, and terminal intelligence autonomy.”

From radio access technology to AI-native services, Qualcomm’s demonstrations at MWC will showcase its engineering practices in the 6G field focused on intelligence and efficiency.

In terms of foundational technology, facing higher demands for network capacity, efficiency, and determinism from AI agents, Qualcomm has conducted tests supporting 6G ultra-massive MIMO for new wide-area capacity, providing feasible paths for operators to reduce costs and accelerate commercialization; in AI collaboration, Qualcomm and Nokia Bell Labs have completed interoperability verification for wireless AI, enabling shared data or models for AI training and collaborative operation between terminals and cloud.

In scenario exploration, Qualcomm has pre-deployed AI capabilities on various terminals such as smartphones, AI PCs, automobiles, robots, wearables, and XR devices, laying the groundwork for pre-commercial 6G terminals and pushing the industry toward 6G pre-commercialization in 2028. Qualcomm also collaborates with ecosystem partners to showcase forward-looking applications, focusing on network slicing based on digital twins and generative AI, improving wireless communication efficiency with AI, and low-altitude drone wireless sensing.

(Source: The Paper)