MWC Las Vegas 2025 is just around the corner, and this year promises to shine a spotlight on the mobile device and the customerโs experience around it. The mobile device has evolved far beyond being just a channel of communication. It is now the command center of customerโs life โ and by extension, engagement with brands.
Here are three themes we expect will dominate the discussion at MWCโs Vegas rendition this year.
Device Experience Becomes Competitive Differentiator
Apple and Samsung have set the tone for consumer device experiences, with more intelligence and personalization, fueled by the ability to capture data. Mobile is becoming the dominant channel for customers as they seek more convenience and personalization of service. Leading consumer brands, such as Nike and Starbucks, have already picked up on this and implemented successful app-first service with high impact.
With competition heating up to own the customer, telcos have been working on enhancing their apps to own the device experience. Carriers that succeed in mastering the device experience are those that ensure most journeys can flow through the app, weaving together convenience and personalization of product offers โ fueled by the customerโs device data. Mastering this will allow them to retain the customer and then convert more VAS upsells.
Agentic AI โ a hot topic at this yearโs Barcelona event โ will be a key conduit to helping drive better mobile device, app-based customer experiences.
Progression of Agentic AI
Following the Agentic AI GenAI buzz in the air at MWC Barcelona, the mobile industry will be looking to find the successful projects launched this year and their impact. Part of the focus will be on how Agentic AI has been pressed into action on the mobile customer experience.
One way Agentic AI will be discussed is how it has elevated the mobile experience up to a live-agent channel experience. In practical terms, this means implementing Agentic AI into mobile device-related customer journeys to make them guided, assisted and purposeful. Fueled by both conversation and device data, Agentic AI can more quickly address a customerโs immediate service needs and add an element of personalization that not even live-agents on call or in store can. This has already been rolled out at a large North American carrierโs retail brand.
When applied to TELUS retail brand Mobile Klinikโs app with MCEโs Agentic AI solution, customers engaged more with the appโs services and products โ 4x more โ and acted 3x more often on offers.
The Ascendancy of the MVNO
The MVNOs have arrived and are rising. Between 2008 and 2019, the number of subscribers for MVNOs in the U.S. has more than doubled. Rising costs are a key factor. Customers are as ready as ever to look for more affordable network options, with โmore than 90 percent of U.S. consumers willing to consider mobile providers outside of the traditional three carriers.โ Moreover, 60 percent of consumers are willing to buy a device from retailers, separately from the carriers. This signals the opening for the rise of the MVNO competition.
As digital-first, app-driven organizations, MVNOs will look to the mobile device experience as their bastion to acquire and retain customers. At MWC Las Vegas 2025, eSIM technology and digital-first, app-based tools will be featured, showcasing the new potential of MVNOs to take more market share away from traditional carriers.
Barcelonaโs U.S. counterpart is another opportunity to explore these ideas. MCE is your guide to owning the customerโs mobile device experience with superior app UX, data capture technology and Agentic AI that foster customer loyalty โ all toward hitting business priorities. Visit our event page to book a meeting with us at the conference and get a consultation about how to master your customersโ device experience.
