It’s time for collaboration, not abusive positioning, telco leaders tell MWC

Mobile World Congress 2024 opened in Barcelona with telco execs calling for collaboration and cooperation between telcos, public authorities and technology companies. The leaders of two of Spain’s largest operators called for tech companies to share in network costs — the so-called Fair Share — and for the creation of a single ecosystem that allows innovation and technological advancement.

Mats Granryd, director general of the GSM Association, the industry body that organizes MWC, celebrated the role the event has played over the years. “We are no longer representatives of one industry, we are many industries, with connectivity and technology at the core of our work,” he said.

In the opening keynote session, Granryd set out four priorities for the telecommunications sector in the coming years: growth, looking for opportunities in all areas; an Open Gateway, to unlock the potential of 5G networks in an API-based world; alignment in a changing environment; and digital inclusion, leaving no one behind. “When we get these four things right, we will have the best environment for humanity,” he said. 

He highlighted 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), and the cloud as the main drivers of growth and called for “continued investment in new technology.” He also applauded the rapid adoption of the Open Gateway initiative, which seeks to streamline telecommunications networks and open them up to developers. In just 12 months, 47 operators have joined the project, representing 239 networks and over 65% of global mobile connections. 

Network APIs

José María Álvarez-Pallete, GSMA chairman and CEO of network operator Telefónica, spoke of the growing need for capacity, speed, and quality of connections, especially for new products and services flowing through networks such as ChatGPT and generative AI.

“API-centric models are essential,” he said, pointing to GSMA’s launch a year ago of the GSMA’s Open Gateway initiative.

Open Gateway offers APIs for network functions including Device Status, Number Verification, One-Time Password SMS and Device Location that developers can use in their mobile apps.

“I am particularly proud that two of Telefonica’s main markets, Spain and Brazil, have successfully carried out coordinated API launches in which all relevant operators in the territory have participated,” he said. Six markets around the world, including Sri Lanka, Germany, Indonesia and South Africa, have followed suit and 40 networks have commercially launched at least one API.

Networks are changing in other ways, too, he said: “Networks are based on software and then AI is applied to them, and they start thinking. Our networks are becoming proactive. They’re becoming liquid.”

However, this new vision of networks presents new challenges, he said. Currently, six companies consume more than 50% of network capacity, and in the next seven years, the volume of data will quadruple. “AI will need massive processing power, it needs the Earth (telcos) and the Cloud to collaborate. It is time for a global partnership and fair governance to deliver a sustainable and mutually beneficial value chain. It’s time for collaboration, not abusive positioning. It’s time to make responsible use of shared resources. It’s time for a new regulatory landscape. We need 21st century regulation,” Álvarez-Pallete said. 

The chairman of the main national operator also took the opportunity to celebrate Telefónica’s centenary. “We are surprisingly resilient. A company only reaches 100 years if it serves a purpose for society and permanently adapts to continue to serve. The fact that we have several century-old companies in our industry is a testament to that. Happy birthday to Telefonica. Happy new birthday to our industry,” he said. 

New policies for a new model

Another speaker, Margherita Della Valle, the Group CEO of Vodafone and also a GSMA board member, delved into the changes that technology has brought to society in the last 30 years, and the next.

“The biggest opportunity is in the industrial internet, in connecting machines and applications to the cloud and AI-powered services. The only limit is set by our imagination,” she said. 

This technological advance, Della Valle said, requires a different approach than in recent years: “We need partnerships between operators, policymakers and tech companies to help bring the industrial internet. Our policymakers must act now and create a genuine single market. Europe needs investors and investors need to see change.

But it will take more than just good policies to be successful in the industrial internet era, she said: “It requires telecommunications to forget about the old models and compete and collaborate with the other market leaders. We need to be open to collaboration.”

That will involve change for network operators too: “Telcos have to play a new role, to be flexible within a broader ecosystem,” she said.