José M. Rodríguez Silva

Updated Monday, February 26, 2024-10:00

  • Previous Mobile joins the wave of artificial intelligence in an edition marked by the 'telecos' agenda

The president of Telefónica,

José María Álvarez-Pallete

, has reiterated at the Mobile World Congress the need for a

new regulatory framework

for the technology sector with an optics focused on collaboration in the face of a new era of massive traffic increases due to the of AI.

"It is time to use resources responsibly. Six actors consume more than 50% of the network capacity today. It is essential that they use the network responsibly," said the manager during the inauguration of Mobile in

Barcelona

, ​​a city for which has also had words: "We feel it like our home."

In his speech, Álvarez Pallete, who also chairs GSMA, the mobile industry association, has shown

a more conciliatory tone with large technology companies

than in previous speeches, without direct mention of payment for the use of the network.

"It is time for a global alliance and fair governance to bring mutual and sustainable benefit to the entire value chain," said the manager during his speech in his role as spokesperson for the telecommunications sector at its most important event of the year.

According to the president of Telefónica, the new wave of products and services derived in part from artificial intelligence

will cause the volume of data to multiply by four in seven years,

which will require significant investments for telecommunications operators.

This sector has been focusing for years on six companies that consume 50% of Internet traffic: Google, Meta, Netflix, Amazon, Microsoft and Apple.

They consider that they produce excessive use of the network, which leads to large investments by operators that have no return.

For this reason, for years they have demanded the so-called

fair contribution

, in turn baptized by technology companies as a

network tax,

a model for Internet giants to help pay for networks.

"AI is probably the greatest revolution in the history of humanity. For the first time, humans are creating technology that can think. It is a paradigm shift and our networks are needed," said the manager.

OPEN GATEWAY

The other big element of the Telefónica president's speech was

Open Gateway

, the new initiative of telecoms to monetize telecommunications networks by opening the networks to application developers.

The initiative has 47 operators

, more than double that of last year's launch.

The logic of the initiative is the same as

roaming

: create a standard that allows applications to work on all networks.

Spain is one of the first six countries in which APIs have already been launched,

aimed at verifying the identity of phone owners and avoiding duplicate SIM fraud.

Uses are expected to multiply in the coming months with cases focused on network quality, critical communications or cybersecurity with the aim of creating a market worth

$300 billion

by 2030.

The CEO of Microsoft,

Satya Nadella

, has also participated virtually with a video in which he highlighted the alliance.

"It's incredible to see the progress we've made in a short time," he said.

Mobile World Congress

El Mobile has started its seventeenth edition in Barcelona, ​​with which it has a contract to remain until 2030.

The fair expects to attract 95,000 attendees