{"id":39431,"date":"2018-02-19T16:05:23","date_gmt":"2018-02-19T16:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/futurenetworks\/gsma_resources\/future-networks-mwc18-guide\/"},"modified":"2018-02-19T16:05:23","modified_gmt":"2018-02-19T16:05:23","slug":"future-networks-mwc18-guide","status":"publish","type":"gsma_theme_resources","link":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/gsma_resources\/future-networks-mwc18-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"The Future Networks Guide to MWC18"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year\u2019s Mobile World Congress is a particularly significant one for the GSMA\u2019s Future Networks Programme. It marks a turning point in the road to commercial reality for two transformative technologies: Rich Communications Services, or RCS, and 5G.<\/p>\n

RCS and the Future of Messaging at Mobile World Congress<\/h3>\n

Rich Communications Services (RCS) is an upgrade to SMS on a global scale, bringing the messaging services of the future to over 4 billion mobile phone users worldwide. RCS is an operator service that will work on any smart device or network, and will give customers the experience they\u2019ve come to expect from OTTs, natively in their handset.<\/p>\n

5G at Mobile World Congress<\/h3>\n

5G could account for as many as 1.2 billion connections by 2025. By then, 5G networks are likely to cover one third of the world\u2019s population. The impact on the mobile industry and its customers will be profound. 5G could bring an evolution in VR (and AR), an area where we have seen growth in devices and applications over the last two years. They have so far been seen as somewhat dispensable functions due to latency and\/or low quality of virtual images, but trials such as these could very well showcase the improvements made with 5G.<\/p>\n

Download our free Future Networks Event Guide<\/strong>, where you will find a comprehensive list of RCS and 5G seminars, demonstrations and activities at this year\u2019s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Download here<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year\u2019s Mobile World Congress is a particularly significant one for the GSMA\u2019s Future Networks Programme. It marks a turning point in the road to commercial reality for two transformative technologies: Rich Communications Services, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"image":null,"json":{"gsma_resources_type":"Document","gsma_resources_thumb":"[]","gsma_resources_file":"[]","gsma_resources_multi":null,"gsma_resources_wgr":null,"gsma_resources_video":null,"gsma_resources_image":"[]","gsma_resources_url":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/GSMA-Future-Networks-MWC18-Event-Guide.pdf","gsma_resources_date":"19-02-2018","gsma_resources_button":null}},"tags":[],"resource_categories":[8975],"algolia_discover_type":[15361],"class_list":["post-39431","gsma_theme_resources","type-gsma_theme_resources","status-publish","hentry","resource_categories-resources","algolia_discover_type-resource"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Future Networks Guide to MWC18 - Networks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/gsma_resources\/future-networks-mwc18-guide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Future Networks Guide to MWC18\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This year\u2019s Mobile World Congress is a particularly significant one for the GSMA\u2019s Future Networks Programme. It marks a turning point in the road to commercial reality for two transformative technologies: Rich Communications Services, ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/gsma_resources\/future-networks-mwc18-guide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Networks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gsma\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/GSMA_logo_colour_web.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@GSMA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Future Networks Guide to MWC18 - Networks","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/gsma_resources\/future-networks-mwc18-guide\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Future Networks Guide to MWC18","og_description":"This year\u2019s Mobile World Congress is a particularly significant one for the GSMA\u2019s Future Networks Programme. It marks a turning point in the road to commercial reality for two transformative technologies: Rich Communications Services, ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/gsma_resources\/future-networks-mwc18-guide\/","og_site_name":"Networks","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gsma\/","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":1000,"url":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/GSMA_logo_colour_web.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@GSMA","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/gsma_resources\/future-networks-mwc18-guide\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/gsma_resources\/future-networks-mwc18-guide\/","name":"The Future Networks Guide to MWC18 - Networks","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-02-19T16:05:23+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/gsma_resources\/future-networks-mwc18-guide\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/gsma_resources\/future-networks-mwc18-guide\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/gsma_resources\/future-networks-mwc18-guide\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Future Networks Guide to MWC18"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/","name":"Networks","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/#organization","name":"GSMA","url":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/GSMA-Logo-Red-RGB_square.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/GSMA-Logo-Red-RGB_square.jpg","width":600,"height":600,"caption":"GSMA"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/gsma\/","https:\/\/x.com\/GSMA","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gsmaonline\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/gsma","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/GSMAOnline","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/GSMA"]}]}},"cats":[{"term_id":8977,"name":"5G","slug":"5g","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":8979,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15473,"count":89,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15391,"name":"5G Communication Services","slug":"5g-communication-services","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15393,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15390,"count":12,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15411,"name":"5G ROI","slug":"5g-return-on-investment","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15413,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15390,"count":13,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15384,"name":"5G Standalone","slug":"5g-standalone","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15386,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":0,"count":22,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15314,"name":"5G-Advanced","slug":"5g-advanced","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15316,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":0,"count":28,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15317,"name":"5G-Advanced","slug":"5g-advanced-all-projects","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15319,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15472,"name":"6G","slug":"6g","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15474,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15396,"name":"AI for Networks","slug":"ai-for-networks","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15398,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15395,"count":5,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15459,"name":"Article","slug":"article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15461,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15457,"count":4,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15398,"name":"Capability Exposure\u00a0(NaaS)","slug":"capability-exposure","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15400,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":0,"count":21,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15458,"name":"Case study","slug":"case-study","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15460,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15457,"count":3,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15408,"name":"CNTT \/ Aknunet","slug":"cntt-knunet","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15410,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15401,"count":0,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15407,"name":"Communications","slug":"communications","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15409,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15390,"count":9,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15390,"name":"Complete 5G","slug":"complete-5g","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15392,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":0,"count":14,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15460,"name":"Documents and reports","slug":"documents-and-reports","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15462,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15457,"count":4,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15413,"name":"Enterprise requirements","slug":"enterprise-requirements","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15415,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15390,"count":16,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15409,"name":"Enterprise Use Cases","slug":"enterprise-use-cases","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15411,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":0,"count":10,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15400,"name":"Events","slug":"events","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15402,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":0,"count":5,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15412,"name":"GSMA Fusion - Demand","slug":"gsma-fusion-demand","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15414,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15398,"count":3,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15468,"name":"Infrastructure","slug":"infrastructure","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15470,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":0,"count":0,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15395,"name":"Mobile AI","slug":"mobile-ai","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15397,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":0,"count":6,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":9667,"name":"MWC Barcelona","slug":"mwc-barcelona","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":9669,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15400,"count":41,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15470,"name":"MWC Doha","slug":"mwc-doha","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15472,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15400,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15402,"name":"MWC Shanghai","slug":"mwc-shanghai","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15404,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15400,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15388,"name":"Network Capabilities","slug":"network-capabilities","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15390,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15314,"count":21,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15387,"name":"Network Slicing","slug":"network-slicing","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15389,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15384,"count":6,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15389,"name":"Network Transformation (APIs)","slug":"network-transformation","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15391,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15314,"count":10,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15397,"name":"Networks for AI","slug":"networks-for-ai","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15399,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15395,"count":5,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15385,"name":"NTN \/ Satellites","slug":"ntn-satellites","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15387,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15384,"count":11,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15399,"name":"Open Gateway - Supply","slug":"open-gateway","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15401,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15398,"count":10,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15277,"name":"Operator Platform Group","slug":"operator-platform-all-projects","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15279,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15398,"count":30,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15465,"name":"OPG","slug":"opg","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15467,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15464,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15461,"name":"Press release","slug":"press-release","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15463,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15457,"count":0,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15386,"name":"Private Networks","slug":"private-networks","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15388,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15384,"count":13,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":8974,"name":"RCS","slug":"rcs","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":8976,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15391,"count":162,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15466,"name":"RCS","slug":"rcs-working-group-resources","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15468,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15464,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":9702,"name":"RCS Business Messaging Labs","slug":"rcs-business-messaging-labs","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":9704,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":8974,"count":6,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":9666,"name":"RCS Demos and Case Studies","slug":"rcs-demos-and-case-studies","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":9668,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":8974,"count":58,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":9226,"name":"RCS Documents","slug":"rcs-documents","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":9228,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":8974,"count":66,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15462,"name":"Resource","slug":"resource","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15464,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15457,"count":8,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15457,"name":"Resource Type","slug":"resource-type","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15459,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":0,"count":15,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":8975,"name":"Resources","slug":"resources","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":8977,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":0,"count":310,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15392,"name":"Roaming","slug":"roaming","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15394,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15390,"count":0,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15467,"name":"Specification","slug":"specification","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15469,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15457,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15401,"name":"Technology Infrastructure","slug":"technology-infrastructure","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15403,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":0,"count":4,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15286,"name":"Telco Edge Cloud","slug":"telco-edge","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15288,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15390,"count":25,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15473,"name":"Topic","slug":"topic","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15475,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15394,"name":"Tower & Fibre","slug":"tower-and-fibre","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15396,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15401,"count":5,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15474,"name":"Tower Infrastructure","slug":"tower-infrastructure","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15476,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15473,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15469,"name":"Towers","slug":"towers","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15471,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15468,"count":0,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15463,"name":"Video","slug":"video","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15465,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15457,"count":3,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":8982,"name":"VoLTE","slug":"volte","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":8984,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15391,"count":9,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15393,"name":"VoWiFi","slug":"voice-over-wifi","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15395,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":15391,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15331,"name":"Wiki","slug":"wiki","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15333,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":0,"count":48,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":15464,"name":"Working Group Resources","slug":"working-group-resources","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15466,"taxonomy":"resource_categories","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gsma_theme_resources\/39431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gsma_theme_resources"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/gsma_theme_resources"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gsma_theme_resources\/39431\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39431"},{"taxonomy":"resource_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource_categories?post=39431"},{"taxonomy":"algolia_discover_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/technologies\/networks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/algolia_discover_type?post=39431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}