Part of a Virtual Event Series by:
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Annie Turner, Editor, Mobile Europe
OPENING PANEL: Are open network APIs accelerating innovation in 5G?
The GSMA’s Open Gateway Initiative was all over MWC 2023. As MWC 2024 looms, what progress has been made for capabilities like carrier billing, device location, siting the edge and routing across partners’ infrastructure? Is telco finally attracting developers?
MORNING KEYNOTE: How will AI help extract value from 5G networks and services?
Generative or otherwise, AI is grabbing the news everywhere. What does AI bring to 5G now – and in future? How fundamental is it to fulfilling 5G’s potential?
Operating at the edge
What are operators’ plans for the edge progressing? How do hyperscalers fit in? Are ecosystems proving any less of a challenge in edge business and operational models?
Break
IN CONVERSATION: Is Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) truly an essential evolutionary step?
Many operators think NaaS is essential, yet it is proving hard to implement. How key is it and why? Will NaaS be superseded before it’s properly realised? How does Connectivity-as-a-Service or CaaS fit into the picture?
PANEL: How is the operator’s role shaping up 5G private networks?
Are they simply providing connectivity, or taking on systems integration or coordinating the ecosystem? Has liberalisation of spectrum gone far enough to boost private networks? Is 5G sufficiently more compelling than LTE in private networks?
Open RAN’s growth is slower than expected
A look at the reasons for the market not growing as quickly as expected. What are the reasons and implications for the longer term?
Break
AFTERNOON KEYNOTE: The challenges of network automation and dynamic service delivery at scale
The highs and lows of modernising the transport network to support new 5G services.
PANEL: Cloud, core, transport and the RAN
Hyperscalers expected telcos to move their networks to public cloud. Some have moved some network elements to hyperscaler infrastructure (AT&T and DISH, for instance), but many more think they should build – or continue with – their own telco clouds. Does the core or the RAN present bigger challenges regarding cloudification? How long will microwave last in the age of cloudification?
The move to millimeter wave (mmWave)
Why are mmWave deployments lacking in Europe? Will this affect the bloc’s competitiveness? What are the implications for fibre infrastructure (as backhaul and in terms of being supplemented by Fixed Wireless Access in Europe) and increased energy consumption?