Mobile World Congress (MWC) remains one of the wireless industry’s most important events, bringing together global mobile operators, device manufacturers, technology providers and policymakers to chart the future of telecoms and connectivity. From new infrastructure vendors to emerging technologies like AI-RAN and non-terrestrial networks (NTN), this year’s conference reinforced that the cellular ecosystem is evolving rapidly.

After returning from Barcelona, LitePoint’s Khushboo Kalyani shared her observations from the show floor and what they mean for wireless design and test.

Q: As usual, Mobile World Congress was a busy event. What stood out most to you?

Khushboo: One of the biggest takeaways was how much the 5G infrastructure ecosystem continues to expand. Of course, the major players like Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung were present, but what really stood out was the number of smaller companies developing 5G Open RAN radio units.

The growth of O-RAN has lowered the barrier to entry for new vendors, and that’s encouraging innovation in the infrastructure market. While integration challenges still slow adoption in some cases, the presence of these newer companies shows that the ecosystem is actively evolving.

At the same time, there was a strong undercurrent that showed the industry is actively preparing for the future. Many vendors were already talking about 6G and how technologies like AI-RAN could shape next-generation networks. Even though 6G specifications are still in the study phase, the momentum behind it is clearly building.

Another technology that stood out was non-terrestrial networks, or NTN. Satellite service providers, chipset vendors and antenna manufacturers all had a presence at the show, signaling that the satellite connectivity ecosystem is beginning to mature.

Q: AI-RAN was widely discussed at MWC. Why is it attracting so much attention?

Khushboo: AI-RAN – artificial intelligence applied to radio access networks – is important because it addresses one of the biggest challenges operators face today: making better use of the resources they already have.

Traditionally, a radio network is deployed and optimized using fairly static configurations. AI-RAN introduces the ability to analyze traffic patterns in real time and dynamically adjust how radio resources are used. That can improve efficiency by steering beams, adjusting capacity during peak hours or reallocating resources as demand changes.

But AI-RAN is not just about optimizing the network. It also opens the door to new ways for operators to generate revenue. Operators can host third party AI workloads on spare capacity. In addition, one theme that came up repeatedly at MWC was collaboration between telecom operators and cloud providers such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon.

These partnerships are exploring ways to virtualize parts of the network and create new service models. For example, enterprises deploying private networks could spin up a carrier-grade core network quickly using cloud infrastructure. This creates new monetization opportunities for both telecom operators and cloud service providers.

So AI-RAN is not just a technical shift, it’s also part of a broader effort to rethink the economics of telecom networks.

Q: How does 6G fit into this picture, and why is it often mentioned alongside AI-RAN?

Khushboo: Cellular technology typically evolves in roughly 10-year cycles. With 5G first rolling out around 2018 or 2019, the industry is now approaching the later stages of that cycle, meaning that 6G research and ecosystem development are already well underway.

AI-RAN will likely play a much larger role in 6G than it does in 5G. With existing 5G networks, operators have already made significant infrastructure investments, so large architectural changes are difficult. In contrast, 6G provides an opportunity to design networks with AI capabilities built in from the start.

We’re already seeing some early steps toward that future. For example, some chipset vendors are introducing accelerator cards that combine radio and distributed unit capabilities in more virtualized architectures. These platforms allow operators to experiment with AI-driven optimization and more software-defined network infrastructure.

In many ways, today’s work around AI-RAN is laying the groundwork for how 6G networks will eventually operate.

Q: NTN also seemed to gain visibility this year. What did you observe there?

Khushboo: NTN was definitely more visible this year. What was interesting was seeing the full ecosystem represented on the show floor.

Satellite service providers were there, of course, but we also saw chipset companies demonstrating NTN-capable platforms and antenna manufacturers developing arrays designed for satellite communication bands such as Ka and Ku.

The growing demand for satellite connectivity suggests that NTN is becoming more than just a niche technology. A good example is Starlink. When the service launched in 2022 it had around one million subscribers globally. By early 2026 it had surpassed 10 million.

That kind of growth indicates that satellite-based connectivity is gaining real traction. While the number of satellite operators may remain limited because of high investment requirements, we will likely see more chipset and antenna companies entering the ecosystem over the next few years.

Q: What do these trends mean for wireless test, particularly for LitePoint customers?

Khushboo: The biggest implication is that testing requirements are becoming more diverse as the wireless ecosystem expands.

For 6G, we are still in the pre-specification phase, but the industry already needs tools for RF characterization and verification. At MWC, we demonstrated our 6G test capabilities focused on early RF characterization, enabling chipset developers to gain meaningful performance insights well before standards are finalized. 

One trend I noticed at MWC was that many emerging infrastructure companies are still using complex multi-box test setups. While those solutions can work, they add cost and complexity to the test environment and are hard to scale.

LitePoint’s approach is different. Our integrated test platforms provide a streamlined solution for radio unit testing across both FR1 and FR2 frequency ranges. This type of integrated architecture simplifies deployment and improves efficiency for companies entering the infrastructure market. At MWC, we debuted our IQFR2‑RU radio unit test solution, demonstrating a fully working RF + fronthaul conformance test setup in collaboration with Aethertek and Metanoia – two leading providers of open radio unit (O-RU) technologies. The live demo showed how an integrated approach can simplify radio unit validation while ensuring compliance across both RF and fronthaul interfaces, which is an area where many vendors still rely on fragmented, multi‑box solutions.

NTN also introduces new testing needs. Satellite communication systems involve multiple layers of technology, but LitePoint already supports testing for IoT-based NTN communication. As satellite connectivity expands, ensuring reliable RF performance across these systems will become increasingly important.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t call out Wi-Fi, which was highly visible at MWC and featured a number of companies rolling out new Wi-Fi 8 chipsets. In that vein, we showcased LitePoint’s IQxel-MX high-performance Wi-Fi test system with a demonstration test of the new Filogic 8000 Wi-Fi 8 chipset that MediaTek introduced earlier this year. 

Q: Finally, what is your biggest impression coming out of MWC?

Khushboo: If there is one message from this year’s event, it’s that the wireless ecosystem is becoming broader and more interconnected.

5G infrastructure continues to evolve, but at the same time the industry is preparing for the next wave of innovation. AI-RAN, 6G and non-terrestrial networks are all part of that evolution, and they are bringing new players into the ecosystem – from cloud providers to satellite companies and emerging infrastructure vendors.

For companies developing wireless products, this means test strategies must evolve as well. New architectures, new frequency bands and more software-defined networks will require flexible and scalable test solutions.

At LitePoint, we are already working with customers across these emerging technologies – from radio unit testing for next-generation cellular infrastructure to NTN and advanced wireless connectivity. The best time to prepare for these changes is now, while the technologies are still taking shape.