The 2026 Mobile World Congress (MWC Barcelona 2026) will be held in Barcelona, Spain from March 2 to March 5. With “The IQ Era” as its core theme, this conference will bring together global technology and telecommunications giants to discuss how artificial intelligence (AI) and smart connection technology can be deeply integrated to become the underlying driving force for global industrial transformation and upgrading. Faced with this critical turning point in the communications industry, Taiwan Mobile, led by General Manager Lin Zhichen, went to the exhibition with its core management team including Chief Information Officer Cai Qiyan, Chief Commercial Officer of the Personal User Business Lin Dongmin, Chief Commercial Officer of the Enterprise Services Business Zhu Xiaoxing, and Vice President of Marketing and Operations Support Chen Liyu to demonstrate its strong ambitions in 5G advanced applications, native smart networks, and enterprise AI layout.
During this MWC trip, Taiwan Mobile will not only have in-depth exchanges with international giant Ericsson, low-orbit satellite technology suppliers and information security solution companies, but is also expected to sign a new stage of “AI Mobile Network and New ESG Cooperation Memorandum” with Nokia. In addition, Taiwan University successfully won the GLOMO Awards, MWC’s highest honor, with Taiwan’s first “5G smart fire auxiliary rescue system”, bringing Taiwan’s 5G AIoT disaster relief technology capabilities to the international stage.
5G AIoT empowers public safety, innovative fire rescue system shortlisted for GLOMO Award
In the field of mobile communications, the value of technology must ultimately return to solving the major pain points of human society. At this MWC conference, Taiwan Mobile was successfully shortlisted for the “Best Mobile Innovation Supporting Emergency or Humanitarian Situations” in the GLOMO Awards with its self-developed “5G smart fire auxiliary rescue system”. The purpose of this award is to commend the innovative application of mobile communications technology as critical lifeline infrastructure in disasters and emergencies. Being shortlisted for this award symbolizes the international communications market’s high recognition of Taiwan’s contribution to major disaster response and public safety.
According to system data provided by Taiwan Mobile, this auxiliary rescue system addresses the “information gap” and “positioning dilemma” faced by about 17,000 frontline firefighters in Taiwan amid thick smoke and flames. The bottom layer of the system integrates four core technologies:5G private network、3D real-time modeling、High-precision indoor positioningandlife monitoring. Through the low latency and wide connection characteristics of 5G private network, data at the fire scene can be highly transparent and firefighting operations can be implemented in real time.
Specifically, when firefighters enter the fire scene, external commanders can use the system to instantly grasp the precise location and physiological status of each person, and then make accurate risk assessments and issue evacuation or rescue instructions. Judging from the rescue efficiency data, through this high-precision technology, commanders and rescue teams only need 2 minutes to study fire scene information, and can shorten the rescue mission that originally took up to 50 minutes under the traditional process to 50 seconds to complete, and the overall disaster relief efficiency has been greatly improved by 40% on average. This system fully demonstrates how telecom operators combine core networking capabilities with AI technology to protect the lives and safety of frontline personnel through digital means, ensuring that “every action is clearly visible and every hero returns home safely.”
Deepen strategic cooperation with Nokia to promote 5G-Advanced and AI green energy networks
In addition to breakthroughs at the application level, the upgrade of communication infrastructure is the highlight of this MWC. Taiwan Mobile has launched a multi-stage strategic cooperation with Nokia since 2023, covering ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance), 5G network evolution and new innovative services. Looking back on 2025, both parties have delivered impressive results in the field of AI network applications.
In terms of infrastructure energy efficiency control, Taiwan successfully replaced and updated its base station equipment with new-generation high-efficiency, low-energy-consuming base station equipment, and expanded the introduction of AI smart energy-saving applications, successfully driving more than 10% of new wireless network power savings throughout the year. 24 million degrees. In terms of network performance optimization, the two parties invested in the verification of AI solutions related to “Network Digital Twin” and successfully completed the first “Network Digital Twin” in Taiwan.5G-Advanced uplink transmission switching (UL Tx Switching)“Technical verification. This breakthrough in key technology has significantly increased the upload rate of 5G networks by 30%, laying a stable and efficient network foundation for high-bandwidth applications such as AI, AR/VR immersive experiences, and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) that rely heavily on real-time data transmission.
Taiwan Mobile announced that it will formally sign a new phase of “AI Mobile Network and New ESG Cooperation Memorandum” with Nokia during the 2026 MWC exhibition. It is reported that this memorandum will clearly focus on three core areas:AI is introduced into mobile network operations、Improve energy efficiency,as well asStrengthening cyber security and overall resilience. By deepening the integration of AI technology and communication infrastructure, the two parties will establish a highly forward-looking foundation for cooperation in the next generation of mobile communication architecture.
General Manager Lin Zhichen: Accelerate the implementation of native smart networks and promote the scale of enterprise AI
Regarding the development trends of this year’s MWC, Lin Zhichen, general manager of Taiwan Mobile, pointed out that the main axis of “The IQ Era” accurately points out the future blueprint of the communications industry – exploring how telecom operators should accelerate the development of “Native AI Network” in the AI era. This network evolution is not only to empower AI agents and front-end technology applications, but also to support the scale of enterprise applications.
Lin Zhichen said that in the face of the AI wave, Taiwan Mobile has made advance arrangements in the past three years and launched the “Superman Project” internally. The core concept of this project is to use AI to systematically optimize the internal network architecture and operating processes to achieve substantial cost reduction and efficiency improvement, while simultaneously improving the overall corporate operational resilience and ESG sustainability performance.
In terms of enterprise market layout, Taiwan Taisho actively transforms the self-developed AI technology accumulated in the past into commercial solutions that can be implemented immediately. Current areas of application have a clear focus oncustomer service、Marketing、information securityandsoftware developmentand other four key fields, aiming to help corporate customers significantly shorten the introduction period and accelerate the expansion of AI applications and large-scale development in various industries.
Initiative Tech4All inclusive technology, AI empowerment and climate resilience are two-pronged
It is worth noting that this year’s MWC has specially set up six major areas, including: Intelligent Infrastructure, ConnectAI, AI 4 Enterprise, AI Nexus, Game Changers, and the spirit of inclusiveness. Tech4All (Puhui Technology)。
On the topic of Tech4All, the conference strongly urged that technological development should focus on “Empower, not exclude” to avoid digital exclusion, and pay special attention to the innovative application of “Climate-tech” driven by AI and energy technology. General Manager Lin Zhichen emphasized that this international trend is in line with the “Taiwan Mobile Phone Foundation” set in 2026AI empowerment, humanistic literacy, reversing climate change“The three main axes are highly consistent.
In order to implement inclusive technology, the Taiwan Mobile Phone Foundation has announced that it will fully upgrade in 2026.AI Nursery Accompanying Program”. This project aims to use a systematic teaching structure to cultivate the ability of front-line grassroots teachers to integrate AI application and teaching, ensuring that AI media literacy and creative teaching can truly take root in campus classrooms. In addition, in response to the digital gap between urban and rural areas, Taiwan University will continue to promote “Hi-Tech Fun Playing with technology in rural areas” project, through a practice-oriented learning model, strengthens the digital literacy and problem-solving skills of rural students.林之晨指出，期望透过参与 MWC 与全球顶尖伙伴的交流，将国际间在数位包容与气候韧性上的最佳实践经验带回台湾，作为基金会优化专案的重要参照，将 Tech4All 从倡议转化为具备扩散力与可行性的实际行动。
Conclusion: Welcome “The IQ Era” and reshape the new ecology of smart networking
At the key node moving from 5G to 5G-Advanced, communication networks are no longer just a data transmission channel (Dumb Pipe). Looking at the core discussions of MWC 2026, the global communications industry is rapidly shifting to smart network systems with independent judgment, self-optimization and automatic repair capabilities.
Taiwan Mobile’s participation in MWC this time is closely aligned with the theme of “The IQ Era” of the conference, whether it is demonstrating the innovation of rescue technology through the 5G AIoT firefighting system, deepening the AI energy-saving network layout with Nokia, or promoting the scale of enterprise AI and realizing the inclusive value of Tech4All. This not only demonstrates the adaptability and innovation capabilities of Taiwan’s telecom operators in the global technological wave, but also heralds the arrival of a next-generation communications ecosystem with AI as its core driving force.
Source: KOCPC Chinese