At MWC Barcelona 2026, the flagship 5G Future Summit focused on the transition of mobile networks from deployment-led infrastructure programmes to monetisable, intelligent platforms capable of sustaining long-term growth.
As 5G Standalone and 5G-Advanced moved into scale, operators faced a clear strategic inflection point: networks needed to evolve beyond connectivity delivery towards programmability, automation and service exposure to unlock new enterprise value and justify continued investment. At the same time, AI-native network design and private 5G deployments reshaped operational models and customer expectations, accelerating the shift from static networks to software-defined, intent-driven systems.
The summit examined how monetisation was achieved across this journey—from enabling programmable capabilities through standardised APIs, to scaling differentiated services with 5G-Advanced, embedding AI to optimise performance and economics, and aligning architectural decisions with the intelligent, open networks anticipated in the 6G era.
Through panel discussions, real-world case studies and technical insights, the summit explored how operators:
Used GSMA Open Gateway and standardised APIs to expose network capabilities and enable repeatable B2B revenue models
Translated 5G Standalone and 5G-Advanced capabilities into commercially viable, differentiated services
Applied mobile AI to improve network efficiency, service quality and monetisation outcomes
Made architectural and ecosystem choices that will help to preserve future optionality as the industry evolves towards 6G
Attendees gained actionable insight into how leading operators aligned technology evolution, ecosystem collaboration and commercial strategy to move beyond deployment milestones and build sustainable, future-ready network businesses.
Session 1: Monetising Standalone Networks with Open APIs
GSMA: 5G Standalone – Where are we today?
Hear from Henry Calvert, Head of Networks, who explores the global market SA deployment status and shares the insights on the latest GSMA initiatives.
Vonage: Unlock the Potential of Network Intelligence for Enterprise Monetization
Hear from Kunal Shukla SVP & General Manager, Head of Network APIs who explores how to how to turn network infrastructure investment into enterprise revenue by monetizing network intelligence through advanced network APIs, identity, and fraud-protection solutions.
KDDI: 5G SA and Open Gateway API
Hear from Toshiyasu Wakayama, Senior Standardization Specialist, who explores how KDDI is combining its 5G Standalone network strategy with Open Gateway/CAMARA APIs—especially Quality on Demand—to turn proven network quality into new, monetizable services and use cases.
Panel Discussion: Nokia, Rakuten Mobile & Tech Mahindra
Henry calvert is joined on stage by Marcelo Cheminn Madruga, Head of Portfolio Technology & Architecture at Nokia, Ranjan Band, CTO Europe Telco & CX Business Lead at Tech Mahindra, and Brijesh Yadav, VP, Architecture & Business Solutioning, Rakuten Mobile for a panel discussion to explore the importance of Standalone Networks architectures in the exposure via APIs, monetisation of 5G-Advanced capabilities, and the future 3GPP Release capabilities.
Session 2: From 5G-Advanced to 5G Commercialisation
GSMA: 5G-Advanced in Action
Hear from Barbara Pargelio, Senior Technical Director, who explores 5G-Advanced deployment Paths, capabilities and timelines.
AT&T: From 5G-Advanced to 5G Commercialisation
Hear from Yigal Elbaz, Network CTO, who explores how AT&T’s 5G network is evolving today—and what’s coming next—through key capabilities like 5G standalone, connected vehicles, RedCap, network slicing, and public-safety applications.
Fireside Chat: GSMA & Telefónica
Barbara Pareglio is joined by Juan José González Menaya, IoT Product Director at Telefónica to discuss unlocking 5G-Advanced for next-Generation IoT deployments.
Motive: Entitlement Server for Scalable Secure Identity and Authentication
Hear from Jeevithan Muttu , VP Product & R&D, who explores how an entitlement server enables scalable, secure SIM-based authentication and unlocks operator/CSP monetization by turning network capabilities into revenue-generating services.
Panel Discussion: Google, Motive & GSMA
Barbara Pareglio is joined on stage for a panel discussion with Jeevithan Muttu and Christiaan Brand, Identity Verification Product Lead at Google to discuss how entitlement services are unlocking revenue from network slicing, NTN, and secure identity.
Session 3: Mobile AI and Intelligent Networks
GSMA: Mobile AI Community
Hear from Morteza Kheirkhah, Technical Director, who shares key objectives of the GSMA Mobile AI Community and how to get involved, sharing the latest community whitepaper releases and initiatives.
GSMA: Enabeling the Mobile AI Era
Hear from GSMA’s CTO, Alex Sinclair, who explores how the rise of ambient, agentic AI is transforming mobile networks from invisible infrastructure into a critical part of the user experience and the GSMA’s role in supporting this growth.
China Mobile Research Institute: Enhancing Uplink, Enabling Intelligence
Hear from Ms Huang Yuhong, General Manager, who explores why the AI era is making uplink performance the key mobile-network bottleneck and how China Mobile plans to address it with a multi‑domain “Four-Domain” uplink enhancement approach across time, frequency, space, and power.
Turkcell: Intelligence Beyond Connectivity
Hear from Prof. Dr. V. Çağrı Güngör, CTO, Network Technologies, who explores how 5G and telecom networks are evolving beyond connectivity to both power AI workloads and become more autonomous through AI-driven infrastructure and operations across industries.
Session 4: Intelligence in the Network: A Foundation for 6G
Fireside Chat: Announcing the OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation
Hear from Mike Woster, CRO, Linux Foundation and Dr. Tom Rondeau, Principal Director for FutureG, Champion of OCUDU US Gov, who share the latest OCUDU announcement on Open Source RAN.
Qualcomm: Connecting Compute and AI
Hear from Dr. John Smee, Senior Vice President, Engineering, who explores how integrating compute with AI can unlock new services and experiences across products and platforms.
NGMN Alliance: Intelligence in the Network: A Foundation for 6G
Hear from Anita Doehler, NGMN CEO, who explores how embedding AI-driven intelligence and cloud-native, agentic operating models into future networks will shape 6G strategy, standardisation guidance, and the near-term roadmap toward 2026.
Panel Discussion: Huawei, Tech Mahindra & 6GIC
Morteza Kheirkhah is joined on stage for a panel discussion with experts Abhishek Malhotra, Global Service Line Head of Network Services at Tech Mahindra, Prof Rahim Tafazolli CBE, Director for the 6GIC, and Dr Wen Tong, CTO, Wireless Network, Huawei to explore the opportunities of 6G and where we are today.
