My Takeaways From MWC 2024...and a very special moment

Fresh off an exciting week at the Mobile World Congress 2024 (#MWC24) in Barcelona, I feel energized and with a number of things to share.

It was a week marked by a widespread awareness of giving substance to the promises of European market consolidation.

Over the last two decades leading European telecoms operators have exited national European markets 30 times because they could not achieve sufficient scale to make a return on their costs and investments. Over 100 mobile operators are now active within the #EUSingleMarket, with the average number of subscribers per operator only at 4.4 million, compared to 95 million in the US, 300 million in India, and 400 million in China. Consolidation at the individual country level is needed because the one across different countries has been pursued over years but it’s not sufficient. The lack of a single market in Europe is driving an investment gap in the #telco industry that leaves behind our geography vs global connectivity leaders.

Globally #5G is growing fast and it remains on track to become the fastest-adopted mobile generation. However, we are still early in the 5G cycle and only 28% of 4G sites have been upgraded to 5G mid-band. Likewise, only 1.6 billion 5G subscribers, out of a total of 8.5b mobile subscriptions, enjoy the benefits of 5G. And only 17% of Communication service providers (CSPs) with live 5G networks have launched 5G Standalone, and none have launched 5G Advanced.

Where the market is maturing and 5G penetration is increasing, we already see positive trends around CSP revenue growth, with an annual service revenue growth of 3.5%. This initial growth is primarily driven by premium 5G offerings and the acceleration of the Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) business. Other areas showing strong near to mid-term growth potential are Cloud Gaming, Extended Reality (XR), Private Networks and Wireless WAN. For the longer term perspective, growth is expected to come from the exploration of new digital services and device types and the expansions into adjacent business areas.

At the same time talking with leading mobile operators that have already introduced 5G it’s very clear that this technology is allowing to manage easily the increased demand, offloading the 4G network, leveraging on new spectrum, with increased energy efficiency and ultimately a much better customer experience.

I have also noticed in many conversations my team and I have had with customers of Southeast Mediterranean and Eurasia region high interest for specific topics, worth to explore in the coming months.

Programmable networks. With high-performance and programmable networks, we have an opportunity to transform the network into a platform for innovation. We are driving this change by making advanced 5G network capabilities available to the global developer community through open network application programming interfaces (APIs). Network APIs allow application developers to call up specific network resources, such as quality of service, speed, latency and location. Our ambition is to see millions of developers using 5G technologies to experiment, innovate and build killer apps. Last September, we announced the first commercial partnership with Deutsche Telekom, in which it will offer communication and network APIs to developers and enterprises using Ericsson's platform. And more recently, both Verizon and AT&T announced their intention to introduce their own network APIs to the Vonage platform and collaborate on developing new network APIs for developers globally.

Differentiated connectivity and guaranteed experiences. Experience-based connectivity is about offering services adapted to the requirements of specific applications or situations. To users, this will ensure the smooth and enhanced experience when running high-demanding applications, such as HD video streaming, live broadcasting, and immersive (XR) gaming. To CSPs, experience-based connectivity provides yet more opportunities for personalization, value creation and ARPU uplift.

AI and Automation. In telecommunications, #AI is fundamental for the evolutions of networks to handle the complexity that comes with new use cases. At Ericsson, we recognize the transformative power of AI-driven solutions in optimizing networks, enhancing user experiences, and unlocking new business opportunities.

Concrete 5G use cases. At the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona (Spain), Lang Lang – heralded as the greatest pianist of his generation – reinterpreted popular pieces on a fully holographic piano – while his own holographic digital representation played the real piano alongside, in perfect synchronization. This next-level live entertainment experience was made possible using the Ericsson Private 5G solution, configured for 5G Standalone (SA) – all uniting to guarantee the link bandwidth, low latency and seamless performance this experience required. Telefónica and Ericsson made a significant step into the future of live events and managed to give audiences an innovative and memorable experience, the like of which can be recreated across the globe.

Lastly, I will never forget the most significant moment in the whole week when Oleksandr Komarov , CEO of Ки?встар in Ukraine, presented us with an award in appreciation of our assistance in restoring their network following the most significant cyber attack in the history of Telco and the most incredible recovery managed by Kyivstar and Ericsson teams. This heartfelt gesture served as a poignant reminder of the important of mobile communications for the humankind and the real value of the word partnership.

As we bid farewell to another memorable #MWC, I am filled with a sense of optimism and determination. The journey ahead is fraught with challenges, but it is also ripe with opportunities to redefine connectivity, empower societies, and shape a brighter future.

The 爱立信 team will continue to innovate, collaborate and partner with our customers towards a more connected, intelligent, and sustainable world.