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Telecommunications History Is Not Over — Transformation Begins with Cross-Border Integration
2025-09-02
“The past may be a sharp blade, but now it aims to become a Swiss Army knife.” Following this logic, we may find clues to the future direction of telecommunications history. At the GSMA’s year-end gathering, dialogues among experts offered many glimpses into what lies ahead.
Telecommunications History Is Not Over
Whether the history of telecommunications has reached its end depends largely on how operators embrace the trend of cross-sector integration. “We must avoid applying 2G-era thinking to 5G tasks. If we do not open our minds, the age of AI will be full of challenges.” At the same time, talent must be given space to fully unleash their creativity.
Through the efforts of telecom operators, artificial intelligence can ultimately be delivered into everyone’s hands. Li Jun also emphasized: “We need to promote the evolution of AI into infrastructure. Only w hen AI becomes as accessible as water and electricity can we bridge the digital divide.”
Through the efforts of telecom operators, artificial intelligence can ultimately be delivered into everyone’s hands. Li Jun also emphasized: “We need to promote the evolution of AI into infrastructure. Only w hen AI becomes as accessible as water and electricity can we bridge the digital divide.”
The development of AI will make cross-border integration increasingly vital. The boundaries between industries will become increasingly blurred, and the strengths of different sectors will contribute to the better development of AI. For example, the GSMA’s Open Gateway initiative builds a bridge within and beyond the industry. By providing universal access interfaces, it enables developers to connect more quickly to operator networks, creating conditions for cross-sector collaboration.
Application innovation is key to cross-border cooperation. Compared to infrastructure networks and terminal devices, applications create the greatest proportion of value — a fact illustrated by the market capitalization of internet companies far exceeding that of equipment suppliers or telecom operators.
This includes transforming large AI models into practical applications. For instance, the currently popular concept of intelligent agents holds endless potential; such agents could eventually operate various apps based on human instructions. Content development for XR devices also deserves attention, as a major bottleneck for such devices is the lack of new content. On-device AI models for smartphones also show great promise, with substantial potential still untapped in local computing surplus.
“We have changed a lot this year, and we will continue to change on the road ahead.” Industry members believe that the history of telecom is far from over, because the ongoing transformations through cross-border integration in 2024 bring to mind a quote from Charlie Munger: “If you didn’t overthrow one of your best-loved ideas at least once in the past year, then that year was probably wasted.”
The telecommunications industry is changing and integrating. After the sunset may come the time for cross-border convergence — and perhaps, a rebirth.
This includes transforming large AI models into practical applications. For instance, the currently popular concept of intelligent agents holds endless potential; such agents could eventually operate various apps based on human instructions. Content development for XR devices also deserves attention, as a major bottleneck for such devices is the lack of new content. On-device AI models for smartphones also show great promise, with substantial potential still untapped in local computing surplus.
“We have changed a lot this year, and we will continue to change on the road ahead.” Industry members believe that the history of telecom is far from over, because the ongoing transformations through cross-border integration in 2024 bring to mind a quote from Charlie Munger: “If you didn’t overthrow one of your best-loved ideas at least once in the past year, then that year was probably wasted.”
The telecommunications industry is changing and integrating. After the sunset may come the time for cross-border convergence — and perhaps, a rebirth.