MWC26 Doha opens with call for tougher networks to carry agentic AI
Qatar's communications minister said agentic AI demands more resilient networks and advanced compute, while Malaysia's Fahmi Fadzil warned against technology colonialism at the joint ITU plenipotentiary event.
MWC26 Doha opened on 8 November, held alongside the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, with the GSMA calling for alignment on global industry standards and action to close the Middle East and North Africa connectivity gap. Qatar's communications minister said the infrastructure needs of the industry are changing fundamentally: agentic AI requires more resilient networks and more advanced computing capability, plus diversified connectivity routes. The GSMA estimates the region's mobile economy will add US$470 billion by 2030.
Malaysia's communications minister Fahmi Fadzil used a ministerial panel to warn nations against falling victim to technology colonialism, arguing countries must retain sovereignty over their technology direction and citing Malaysia's choice of a single-then-dual 5G wholesale model against GSMA Intelligence recommendations. The pairing of an agentic-AI infrastructure agenda with a technology-sovereignty message marks the tone of the Doha event, and both themes track with debates under way in Southeast Asian regulators, including Indonesia's communications ministry, over domestic AI capability and data infrastructure.