MWC is fast approaching and the global mobile data connectivity team at Telecom26 is busy setting up meetings with our customers, prospects, partners and suppliers.

More than 101,000 people will shortly be descending on Barcelona for the annual Mobile World Congress, which is still the most influential and prestigious event in the telecoms industry and apparently contributed €502 million to the city’s economy last year.

In last week’s blog we discussed Telecom26, smart mobility, the automotive & transport industries & global mobile data connectivity as automotive and transport are two of the adjacent industries that will be attending this year’s Mobile World Congress.

This year’s Mobile World Congress is fast approaching - and it’s a completely different show from the early days when operators and their supplies came together to discuss global mobile data connectivity. Amongst the “59% of adjacent industries” that the GSMA says will be attending are automotive and transport with a whole day of discussions set aside for smart mobility.

5G private networks - or NPNs, Non-public Networks - continue to attract attention and market momentum. According to IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, there were a total of 4,700 private LTE/5G networks deployed across the world at the end of 2024, excluding PoC projects. That’s a big number – and it’s set to surge. As we’ve discussed before, businesses are embracing private 5G for a wide range of reasons. Now we’re launching our own 5G private network solution.

Last month Valour Consultancy, which specialises in the aviation and maritime sectors, issued its latest Maritime Connectivity Tracker Update and found that: