Asia's top telecom show to open in Shanghai

Asia's leading telecommunications event opens its doors in Shanghai on Wednesday, showcasing groundbreaking advancements that will impact over a billion mobile users in China, the world's largest smartphone market.

The highlights and topics will cover advanced 5G networks or 5G-A, convergence of artificial intelligence and high-speed networks, Internet security and smart devices at the Mobile World Congress or MWC Shanghai 2024, Shanghai Daily learned.

First-time exhibitors include Amazon Web Services, Bharti Airtel, iFlytek, NIO, Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology and Xiaomi, an indication of the booming development of AI, cloud, autonomous driving and satellite communication.

Returning exhibitors include China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, China Broadnet, AMD, Honor, Huawei, Lenovo, Qualcomm, STMicroelectronics, XReal and ZTE, which are top carriers, equipment vendors, chip designers and smart device vendors.

Giants such as China Mobile, Honor and Huawei will organize a batch of events at the event from Wednesday to Friday at the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC) in the Pudong New Area.

The convergence of AI and 5G-Advanced networks, which offer 10-times faster Internet access, will bring booming mobile data traffic, generative AI content and new mobile end features. By 2030, more than 90 percent of smartphones will be AI phones, compared with 11 percent in 2024, Huawei said in MWC Shanghai preview forums on Tuesday.

"As our world moves towards digital everything, MWC Shanghai is at the frontier of cross-industry digital transformation, attracting players from all corners of the global connectivity ecosystem," said Sihan Bo Chen, China head of GSMA, organizer of MWC events globally.