LIVE FROM MWC SHANGHAI 2026: AI naturally dominated the opening keynote session of this year’s event, with China Mobile and Filipino operator Globe Telecom offering insight into consumer benefits of the tech and how it is driving growth at both companies.

Carl Cruz, CEO and president of Globe Telecom (pictured), outlined how his business is arguably one of the most advanced operators globally in terms of implementing AI for its own employee work practices as well as customer use cases.

It is a journey which started in 2024 when Globe Telecom established a group to lead its adoption of AI technology and created the position of chief AI officer (CAIO). The role was taken up by Anton Bonifacio and since widened to become Chief Intelligence and Trust Officer (CITO), leading the integrated structure of key technology and enabling groups across AI, data, cybersecurity and digital policy.

“Our goal was simple,” declared Cruz. “Democratise technology so innovation could come from anywhere. We see AI not as a threat but as a tool for power and growth.”

To that end, Cruz said Globe Telecom had witnessed more than 80 citizen-developed use cases across the business using a hub and spoke operating model. He cited other statistics claiming AI is now embedded in 90% of Globe’s business practices, with more than 260 relevant projects running across all business units.

Cruz put the AI focus on four main areas: hyper personalisation; customer experience; autonomous networks; and the creation of new products and services.

He gave the example of how Globe Telecom used AI to build a new billing agent: “It used to take days, even weeks, to reconcile billing. Today it takes seconds and minutes.”

“It’s about deepening customer relevance, unlocking new value and creating new growth engines for Globe.”

Cruz also talked up Globe Telecom’s AI Fiesta initiative, an affordable aggregator platform which bundles leading global AI models including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini Pro, Perplexity, DeepSeek and Grok under a single, budget-friendly subscription. It is designed to democratise AI access for students, creators and small business owners.

And the operator has launched Globe Cloud, a personal cloud storage and file-backup service. Running Synchronoss technology, the app allows users to free up device space, sync media across devices, and use AI tools for editing and transforming images.

“AI at Globe is not an end to itself, it is a means to serve customers better, unlock new opportunities and growth,” Cruz said. “It’s not about using AI everywhere, it’s about using AI where it matters most; most importantly the communities we serve”.

“We are only scratching the surface of what’s possible.”

China Mobile: AI for All
The world’s largest operator China Mobile opened the keynote with a presentation tagged Mobile AI – AI for All.

Chair Zhongyue Chen highlighted how AI is enabling a hearing-impaired man to carry out everyday tasks.

“AI should not only be serving the elite or remain the domain of the masses,” Chen said.

The company claimed it is open to partnerships to further boost its AI offering. “We are not building a closed garden service for ourselves.”

And its AI for All mantra encompasses a variety of sectors, with Chen highlighting a focus on consumer services, showcasing how the technology is being used to supercharge the TV viewing experience in China of the FIFA World Cup; industries, for example in steel manufacturing where AI is helping reduce exposure to dangerously high temperatures; and infrastructure, where AI is measuring the power of individual models and also the capacity of platforms.

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Ericsson ha presentado una suscripción de software orientada a integrar modelos de IA de nivel de telecomunicaciones directamente en bandas base y radios, con el objetivo de que los operadores puedan mejorar el rendimiento, la automatización y la eficiencia energética de sus redes 5G sin necesidad de incorporar nuevo hardware.

Según la firma, el software emplea modelos de IA diseñados para operar en tiempo real dentro de la RAN, con capacidades de aprendizaje continuo e IA de agente para operaciones de red. Ericsson ha precisado que sus modelos están concebidos para una inferencia de latencia reducida, con atención a la fiabilidad en distintos entornos RAN.

El servicio es compatible con Ericsson 5G Advanced en plataformas RAN especializadas y en la nube. La empresa ha indicado que el software utiliza sus chips en las radios y la última generación de computación RAN para asignar el modelo de IA adecuado a cada parte de la red, y que sus capacidades también pueden desplegarse en plataformas de socios.

Las primeras funciones ya están disponibles, y se añadirán otras a lo largo del año. Entre las iniciales figura un planificador basado en IA para la adaptación de enlaces, la formación de haces y la coordinación multicapa.

Ericsson ha señalado que la tecnología se ha probado en más de 15 ensayos en todo el mundo, con resultados que incluyen un rendimiento de enlace descendente hasta un 20 % superior, una eficiencia espectral hasta un 10 % mejor y soporte para hasta el doble de usuarios con alto tráfico. La firma ha indicado asimismo que la IA en la RAN podría alcanzar una precisión de predicción de cobertura de hasta el 95 %.

Marten Lerner, consejero delegado de estrategia de redes y gestión de productos de Ericsson, ha sostenido que la empresa está “redefiniendo lo que es posible en las redes móviles al brindar potentes capacidades de IA a los proveedores de servicios” y ha concluido: “Estamos dando un paso importante hacia las redes nativas de IA”.

Socios de Ericsson como SoftBank, Bell, SK Telecom y Rogers han destacado los beneficios potenciales del software en optimización en tiempo real, rendimiento de red, ahorro energético, automatización y soporte para servicios emergentes impulsados por IA.

Joe Madden, analista de Mobile Experts, ha apuntado: “Con una actualización de software, los operadores pueden obtener mayor capacidad, mejor visibilidad y servicios de localización más precisos de la red 5G que compraron hace años”.

Con información de Amiya Johar.

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