Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025 wrapped up a couple of weeks ago now, leaving us with thought-provoking insights into the future of telecommunications, AI, and digital infrastructure. The event highlighted that MWC is no longer just a ‘mobile’ event—it’s a broader commercial innovation hub. While there were plenty of product demonstrations, racks full of equipment to look at, robots in various guises and plenty of students looking for ‘swag’, some salient points came to our attention that we wanted to share.
The Standout Keynote: The Reality Check on ARPU, OPEX, and AI
MWC’s opening keynote sparked intense discussions, particularly around the widening gap between Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) and operational expenditure (OPEX). One major concern is that the industry still lacks a viable solution beyond consolidation and tax relief requests.
There is a clear divergence in how Service Providers (SPs) operate across different regions. A graph presented by Sunil Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, showed the stack difference between some Asian markets and Western markets. The average monthly revenue from a US mobile subscriber was purportedly ~$45 – an Indian subscriber $2. Yes, India has a vast population but the average income within the market forces different thinking by these SPs. In the East, communications are seen as an essential conduit, whereas Western network operators still focus heavily on the mobile network itself rather than the full digital ecosystem.
Another major theme was AI adoption in telecom. While AI is being widely used for customer service automation, its role in network planning and operations remains limited. SPs, especially in Europe, remain sceptical about AI’s readiness to manage networks efficiently & effectively. In regions like Asia, there is a push toward localised AI models, as English-language based LLMs (Large Language Models) lack the language and cultural nuances needed for successful customer engagement.
Industry Trends That Will Shape the Next 1-3 Years
What key trends will impact the telecom sector over the next few years? What’s clear is that 6G is not one of them. The economic case for 6G deployment remains weak, given that most operators still struggle to monetise 5G effectively.
Instead, the rise of sovereign AI infrastructure is taking centre stage. Customers in markets such as the UAE are insisting that AI applications run on infrastructure in-country rather than on public cloud hyperscalers outside their borders. Customers want to interact with infrastructure using the familiar interfaces created by the public cloud providers, leading to some interesting collaborations between the hyperscalers and local data centre operators. This shift towards sovereign AI reflects growing concerns around data security, regulatory compliance, and economic viability.
The debate around Edge AI was also significant. What are commercially viable Edge AI use cases that Telcos can offer, and what meaningful problems do they address? While some applications are deemed to require low latency processing (debatably in our view), placing AI processing at the Telco edge is rarely cost-effective when compared to other locations deeper into the Telco core. Here too, we encountered parts of the industry pushing the sovereign model – but this isn’t going to end the debate about ‘Edge AI’ and that long sought-after ‘killer application’.
The Most Positive and Negative Signs from MWC 2025
One of the most positive takeaways was the industry’s increasing focus on solving real, tangible, problems rather than pushing aspirational (and often impractical) technologies. The lack of excessive hype around 6G was a welcome change, indicating that companies are prioritising ROI-driven innovation.
However, the most negative sign was the continued financial strain on telecom operators. While revenue and profitability remain strong, heavy debt burdens due to spectrum costs and infrastructure investments present long-term risks. The industry is at a crossroads—without a viable path to profitability, the telecom sector could find itself increasingly dependent on government intervention (at least in the West).
Another challenge is the aging workforce. A large portion of skilled professionals in the telecom sector is nearing retirement, creating an urgent need for knowledge retention. AI is being explored as a means to document and transfer expertise, but the effectiveness of this approach remains uncertain.
The Overlooked Opportunity
One of the most underestimated trends is the potential for ‘Super Apps’ in Western markets. While super apps (such as WeChat & Grab) are already commonplace in Asia, SPs such as SK Telecom & Singtel are also active in this space, creating a marketplace of customers and service offers (including wellness, financial, travel, insurance & entertainment offers) which is not limited to the SPs own subscriber base. Western consumers aren’t generally exposed to such unified digital experiences. The challenge, however, is whether the economic incentives exist for such platforms to thrive outside Asia’s unique market dynamics.
Another emerging shift is the rise of ‘Agentic AI’ — where AI-driven services function as agents behind a user interface operated by a ‘marketplace owner’ rather than as standalone apps. This could fundamentally change application development dynamics, reducing the need for developers to build traditional UI/UX elements and work to establish themselves in a market. There is also the AI-driven ‘router’ handling the requests to agents dynamically. The success of this model will depend on whether companies can create profitable business ecosystems around these AI-driven services.
Final Thoughts: A New Era for Telecommunications?
MWC 2025 underscored that the telecommunications industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation. AI, sovereign infrastructure, and changing business models are reshaping how SPs operate. Parts of the world have already seen a shift where building and running the connectivity network separates from the business of providing value to the customer. Whether this change in business model will be successful is likely to be on a region-by-region or country-by-country basis but in the meantime, the financial and operational challenges remain significant.
The next 1-3 years will be crucial in determining which innovations take hold and which fade away. One thing is certain: telecom operators can’t continue to operate in a ‘business as usual’ approach. While bundling Apple TV or Disney+ may increase ARPU, it doesn’t make an operator ‘digital’. Pay attention to those who are already embracing the ‘digital first’ mindset, moving from ‘minutes and messages’ to services and marketplaces.
Kilometers walked: >50
Blisters this year: none!
