The curtain has closed on another Mobile World Congress Barcelona, where more than 100,000 people wandered through eight cavernous halls, collectively racking up enough steps to climb a small mountain – or at least justify an extra tapas or two after a long day.

From a newsroom perspective, the telecoms industry only truly wakes up once MWC Barcelona gets underway. It is where partnerships are announced, strategies are unveiled and executives test the messaging that will shape the industry narrative for the rest of the year.

At the 20th edition of the event, one theme continued to dominate: artificial intelligence. The AI hype train shows no signs of slowing down. Antennas are AI-powered, networks are AI-powered, software is AI-powered – and every other stand seemed to feature a partnership with Nvidia.

That said, it still feels as though telecoms has not quite reached the point where AI has fundamentally transformed the industry. The sense I took from many conversations across the week is that the change will be gradual rather than explosive. If this is a revolution, it is likely to be a slow one.

Nvidia’s approach illustrates this well. Rather than building telecom solutions directly, the company is positioning itself as an enabler – providing the computing platforms and software foundations for vendors and operators to develop their own AI-driven use cases, whether in network optimisation, RAN development or automation.

Yet the most interesting part of the show for me was not necessarily the biggest stands or the flashiest demos.

Instead, it was a corner of Hall 4.

For the first time, the event hosted an African Pavilion, bringing together several major operators including MTN Group, Ethio Telecom, Axian Telecom and Cassava Technologies.

In a preview ahead of the show, I suggested that African operators would likely play a more prominent role this year. Seeing them establish a physical presence at the industry’s largest gathering was therefore a welcome development.

More importantly, these operators were clearly there to make their voices heard. The discussions happening around the pavilion were grounded in the realities of emerging markets – affordability, coverage, infrastructure investment and the policy challenges shaping digital development.

This stood in contrast to some of the more theatrical displays elsewhere on the show floor, where vendors appeared locked in what could best be described as “Robot Wars”, each trying to outdo the other with increasingly elaborate machines on their stands. For the record, my unofficial award goes to the booth featuring a sword fighting robot – not strictly telecoms, but undeniably entertaining.

Beyond the spectacle, one of the more substantive conversations centred on the role of satellites in connecting underserved markets.

At a roundtable hosted by the GSMA, executives from Axiata Group, MTN Group and Ooredoo called for governments to introduce clearer and stricter regulatory frameworks for low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite providers such as Starlink and Amazon.

The appeal of LEO satellites for emerging markets is obvious. In many cases, deploying terrestrial infrastructure is both expensive and time-consuming. Satellite connectivity offers the possibility of expanding coverage far more quickly.

From the perspective of mobile operators, however, this creates a complicated competitive dynamic. They argue – not unreasonably – that they are subject to licensing fees, regulatory obligations and infrastructure investment requirements that satellite players may not face in the same way.

And ultimately, the average consumer does not particularly care about the delivery mechanism. Whether connectivity comes from a terrestrial network or a satellite constellation is largely irrelevant to someone who simply wants reliable internet access.

That tension between innovation, competition and regulation is likely to become an increasingly important issue over the coming years, particularly as Amazon ramps up its own LEO ambitions.

Another topic that repeatedly came up in conversations during the week was device affordability.

While global smartphone markets have largely recovered from the worst of the supply-chain disruptions seen in recent years, affordability remains a major barrier to connectivity in many developing regions. For millions of people, even relatively inexpensive smartphones remain out of reach.

In response, the GSMA and several operators participating in the African Pavilion announced a new initiative to introduce a US$40 entry-level 4G smartphone. The devices are expected to launch across six markets later this year, aiming to make mobile internet access more accessible to first-time users.

It is a reminder that while much of the industry conversation revolves around AI, automation and advanced network architectures, basic connectivity challenges remain central to telecom development in many parts of the world.

Looking ahead, 2026 is shaping up to be another fascinating year for the sector. The continued evolution of AI, the growing influence of satellite connectivity and the push to expand affordable access will all play important roles in shaping the next phase of telecoms growth.

And if nothing else, the industry has once again proven that it can combine serious strategic discussions with the occasional robot sword fight. Telecoms, after all, is nothing if not versatile.