Louis Powell (left) and Michaela Angonius.
Doha, Qatar: Hosting the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025 showcases Qatar’s leading position in digital innovation. It serves as a platform to bring together expertise to exchange perspectives on artificial intelligence as a driver of change, smart economies, and connected industries that align with the region’s aspirations.
On the sidelines of the MWC25, in an interview with The Peninsula, Louis Powell, AI Initiatives, Engagement and Technical Lead, GSMA highlighted the importance of Qatar hosting the inaugural edition of MWC Doha which put spotlight on the latest breakthroughs in mobile technology, artificial intelligence, and smart connectivity.
“I think these events really highlight the development and the importance of technology and Qatar leading the way. They give us a focal point to focus our energies to showcase the great work that’s happening, and to act as milestones for us to get through now to 2030 (national vision). And it’s very important signal to the market that Qatar is leading that activity and then encouraging other countries to follow,” Powell said.
He added, “GSMA is very excited to be here, it’s a huge opportunity for us to grow in this very important region of the Middle East, especially Qatar. We have some very engaged relationships with the operators in the region, especially within Qatar itself, with Ooredoo and Vodafone.
“Some of the key areas that we are focusing are around the opportunities for us to deploy AI across our networks to improve better performance of 5G Advanced, ensure that we have better experience and connectivity for the region, and we are also to serve our customers through use of AI agents."
Referring to the partnership of GSMA and the Khalifa University of Science and Technology, a strategic cooperation agreement on the opening day of MWC Doha, he noted that "we have launched a partnership to help work with them on how do we make AI work better for telecoms. So this is an evaluation of models and to ensure that models work for telecom-specific use cases. The new collaboration aims to advance research and innovation in telco AI through a shared commitment to knowledge exchange
“We are also releasing an open source model with their work called TelecomGPT and we will also be working with them on releasing a knowledge graph, taking key documentation from 3GPP and make it available for developers to improve the performance of models,” he said.
Commenting regarding how the region is moving beyond 5G, he pointed out the conversations are happening as we move from 5G into 6G. Really, 5G has been about embedding AI into the 5G network. This is the application of models and making sure that AI can be deployed across networks.
In 6G, “we really see AI as being native to the generation. We will focus from moving away from just models, but into genetic workflows and assuring that not only do we use AI to improve how the networks deploy, but also with the huge new rise of AI applications, device types, making sure that our networks work effectively to that disruption that will happen," he said.
“So we are seeing a move from a downlink to uplink and ensuring that our future networks are suitable and secure for the new requirements that AI will bring,” Powell said.
Also, speaking to The Peninsula, Michaela Angonius Head of Policy and Regulation at GSMA said that MWC Doha will be a continuous good thing that is going to recur and return here for sure. “The number of countries that are being represented, it’s really... making sure that we are getting all of those different aspects from the whole globe into one place. Qatar is showcasing itself as a platform for digital innovation and having MWC here is so timely and it couldn’t have picked a better place.”
“What we see here is amazing. It’s a country that is highly connected; it is digitalised wherever you go. I think as Qatar compared to the rest of the world, the continuous focus is to make sure that you have all the right incentives to really have 5G being everywhere,” she added.
Angonius said, “We are looking into and showcasing many of the studies that we’re doing globally but really also focusing on the region.” She pointed out that when it comes to mobile technology, it is a contributor, a $6 trillion that it’s bringing to the economy, but the underlying investment that is needed for the industry, it’s under strain.
She also highlighted the key findings from the GSMA’s report on impact of cybersecurity regulation on mobile operators and the important global policy priorities particularly related to child online protection.
“Our focus on online safety is making sure that we have youth participants at the table. We need to listen to them to understand, what is it they need for digital well-being and one of the core things that GSMA is doing is just that. We make sure that we are bringing and convening young people to the table, and have those discussions together with stakeholders, mobile operators, and regulators,” she said
