Mobility has become a fundamental enabler of industries, lives and enterprises. Uninterrupted data flows are at the heart of everything from smart cities to connected vehicles and from air travel to maritime logistics. Massive transformations have occurred with introduction of drones, autonomous vehicles and automation of shipping lanes, air transport corridors and numerous previously manual functions.
Use cases from ride-sharing scooters to upcoming innovations such as robotaxis and increased automation across vehicles fleets of all types. This can be complex to provision as moving vehicles traverse multiple regions and nations but downtime is not an option, especially for safety-dependent and high value use cases. Networks therefore need to be robust, offer the enhanced mobile broadband capabilities mobility use cases need and be easily available to support the needs of mobility-dependent applications.
Those needs have become more complex as richer data is created and utilised by mobility applications. Basic location functionality has been added to so now highly granular data about usage and communication with other vehicles and infrastructure has become essential. For some applications, constant connectivity is vital to enable automated journeys, support navigation and assure safety.
AI advantages bring greater complexity
The challenge is compounded by the addition of AI which is proving transformative to business models and processes across all industries. AI is taking centre stage in mobility at the device, edge and cloud level. Which AI applications will reside where will depend on the sphere of impact involved. Some of the trends in the automotive industry include the uptake of onboard computing supporting localised real-time decision-making, but also the proliferation of dedicated AI models or LLM for continued improvement on the model and managing the wider fleet. Mobile networks that enable such intelligence at the edge to improve performances will truly demonstrate value.
AI also presents challenges because it demands inputs of clean, accurate data in order to enable actionable insights to be created. AI systems typically rely heavily on reliable communications to ensure those essential data flows continue without interruption or excessive latency. The new wave of smart devices, smart cities, smart logistics and the smart economy is dependent on smart mobility to deliver on the promises of new business cases.
A multi-layer approach for communication is vital to support a wide range of mobility solutions at a global scale. 5G – both in public and private network forms – is a core platform for supporting the needs of smart mobility. This will be augmented with failover to 4G, the additional coverage enabled by non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), being drones, HAPS and Satellites and the emergence of 5G-Advanced capabilities on the path to 6G.
The intelligent capacity era
The central challenge here is not simply to provide more capacity at greater cost. It’s to roll-out intelligent capacity that maximises utilisation, providing the best connectivity for the given need, while integrating with systems that help to optimise the payloads being transmitted. AI can help devices parse data to minimise transmission, and the emergence of network APIs that allows optimisation of the network resources and functions – such as dedicated QoS or prioritisation of traffic optimise network and service the same time.
The Smart Mobility Summit at MWC26 will uncover how advanced technologies including, 5G, private networks, NTNs and network APIs are power intelligent transport for a new era. The event, held on Wednesday 4 March 2026, features a series of sessions covering connectivity for autonomous vehicles, intelligent mobility infrastructure, the impact of AI on mobility, and how connectivity is the engine of smart mobility.
To learn more about the Smart Mobility Summit, visit https://www.mwcbarcelona.com/connected-industries/smart-mobility
The author is George Malim, the managing editor of IoT Now.
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