MWC26 Barcelona, the world’s leading connectivity event, has begun the countdown to its 20th edition in Barcelona, which will take place from 2nd to 5th March at Fira Gran Via.

At a press briefing in Barcelona, GSMA executives outlined the first details of the edition, which will focus on the growing presence of AI and expansion towards space and mobility.

MWC26 will be held under the theme “The IQ Era”, representing an era of intelligence through smarter connectivity. John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA Limited (pictured left), stressed that AI will dominate every industry and will have a cross-cutting presence at the event.

According to Vivek Badrinath, director general of the GSMA (pictured right), MWC Barcelona has for two decades been the meeting point where mobile operators’ executives, start-up founders, ministers and legislators gather. The 2026 edition emphasises the advancement of connectivity, human-driven technological innovation, business development and social progress.

Early confirmed speakers include Gopal Vittal, vice-chairman of Bharti Airtel Group and chairman of GSMA; Andrew Feinberg, president and CEO of BostonGene and NetCracker; Christel Heydemann, CEO of Orange Group; Mickey Mikitani, CEO of Rakuten; Kaan Terzioglu, CEO of Veon; and Benedict Evans, technology analyst.

The four-day programme will be structured around six tracks, with AI as the common thread: Intelligent Infrastructure, ConnectAI, AI 4 Enterprise, AI Nexus, Tech4All and Game Changers.

Space, aviation
MWC 2026 will for the first time make an explicit foray into space technology and satellite connectivity, an area which Badrinath considers relevant for addressing connectivity gaps.

This space orientation materialises in two thematic areas:

New Frontiers
Located in Hall 6, this area will be dedicated to emerging technologies that are transforming the connectivity ecosystem. Topics will include quantum computing, physical AI and non-terrestrial networks (NTN), with live demonstrations and real use cases. Companies already confirmed to participate include Aalyria, Eutelsat and Toshiba Quantum.

Whilst NTN contributes to further expanding global coverage and therefore alliances between mobile and satellite operators are increasingly common, according to Badrinath this does not substantially contribute to resolving the usage gap, with 3 billion people who have mobile coverage still not using it. Lara Dewar, GSMA’s CMO (centre in the photograph), told Mobile World Live that to address this aspect, more affordable devices are needed, priced around $40, as well as more useful services developed on the ground, as was evident at the recent MWC in Kigali.

Airport of the Future
An immersive exhibition experience designed to explore how aviation and air travel are being transformed by connected technologies. It will be located outside the exhibition venue, in a temporary space at the southern entrance. This zone, which includes the second edition of the Smart Airports Summit, will feature the participation of Airbus and Outsight, which will create a full-scale moving digital twin of the area. Hoffman indicated that this will be the year’s featured vertical.

The congress will feature the presence of space industry leaders, such as Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO of SpaceX, and Michael Nicolls, VP of engineering at Starlink.

CircuitX: intelligent mobility
Hoffman announced the CircuitX activity, which will take place on the Sunday before MWC begins (1 March) at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya racing track in Montmelo. This initiative, resulting from a collaboration between GSMA Foundry, Mobile World Capital Barcelona and the Circuit (now managed by Fira de Barcelona), will showcase the latest advancements in smart mobility. Demonstrations and technological solutions applied to electric and autonomous mobility will be exhibited, aimed at around 100 technology officers from relevant companies.

Although the organisers consider the Gran Via venue fully occupied, demand from exhibitors remains considerable. Hoffman acknowledged that the event is facing space limitations, pending the new Hall 0 at the Fira becoming available in 2028.

Main exhibitors at MWC26 include Accenture, Amazon Web Services, AT&T, Dell, Deutsche Telekom, Google, Huawei, Intel, Meta, Microsoft, Nokia, Qualcomm, Samsung, SKT, ZTE and Xiaomi.

In parallel, associated spaces continue including 4YFN (for start-ups, this time under the theme “Infinite AI”), the Talent Arena (at the Montjuïc venue), the GSMA Ministerial Programme and the GLOMO Awards.