When the Mobile World Congress was held in Barcelona, Spain 20 years ago, flip phones were still popular; At the 2026 Mobile World Congress, astronauts were already sharing their experience of making high-definition video calls from space to the ground. This year's Mobile World Congress is themed "Intelligent Era", symbolizing that the mobile communication industry is entering a new stage of development. In the eyes of many professionals in the telecommunications industry, the risks of widening the digital divide brought about by the development of artificial intelligence (AI), security governance issues such as telecommunications fraud, and regulatory lag and fragmentation are the three major challenges faced by the mobile communication industry in the era of intelligence. The consensus presented at the meeting is that the telecommunications industry should work together to bridge the digital divide, enhance security governance, strengthen collaborative governance, and build a solid "digital foundation" for the "intelligent future". The next breakthrough in AI could come from anywhere, provided that everyone can be connected. ”Vivek Badrinat, President of the Global Mobile Communications System Association, the organizer of the conference, said. According to the data mentioned by Badrinat in his keynote speech, there are still about 300 million people in the world who are not covered by mobile networks, and there are still 3.1 billion people in the covered areas who are not using mobile Internet. This "unconnected" state may prevent them from enjoying the dividends brought by AI development. Meanwhile, the current mainstream AI models are only trained on a very small number of languages, which means that many people cannot use AI in their native language. The combination of the two exacerbates the risk of widening the digital divide. To bridge the gap, network infrastructure must accelerate its evolution towards a "computing power base". Badrinat pointed out that as an important infrastructure of the AI ecosystem, the telecommunications network should play a greater role in the layout of computing power and the construction of model capabilities. He specifically pointed out in an interview with Xinhua News Agency that the progress of Chinese operators in promoting the 5G technology evolution version 5G-A technology is "remarkable", providing important experience and inspiration for global industrial exchanges. During the keynote speech at the conference, representatives from Chinese enterprises shared valuable practical examples. China Telecom and China Unicom have overcome a series of challenges in technology, engineering, and operation, providing valuable experience for the large-scale construction of 5G worldwide. Liu Guiqing, General Manager of China Telecom Group Co., Ltd., believes that global operators need to deepen communication and cooperation, promote the open sharing of AI models, and promote the prosperity and inclusiveness of AI applications, so that the innovative achievements of AI can benefit global industry partners. In an increasingly fragmented geopolitical environment, the world still needs seamless connectivity. ”Badrinat emphasized that a major obstacle that the entire industry must overcome is to continue promoting the deployment and application of 5G, fully unleashing the potential of 5G technology, and enabling more people to benefit from innovative applications such as mobile payments, precision agriculture, digital education, and remote healthcare. Building a trustworthy 'shield' through security governance, connectivity is the 'lifeline', and more important than connectivity is trust. ”Sunil Balti Mittal, founder and chairman of India Telecom, said. The attending delegates generally believe that the true determinant of industrial competitiveness lies not only in the breadth of network coverage, but also in reliability and security. Crystal Heidemann, CEO of French telecommunications operator Orange, said that in the face of rampant deepfakes and security risks in critical digital infrastructure, telecommunications operators can no longer just act as "pipelines", but must become "architects" and "shields" for building a trustworthy digital environment. Liu Guiqing pointed out that security governance is a necessary question for global operators and also a watershed that determines the strength of operation and service levels in the intelligent era. Mittal stated that "digital fraud" causes losses of up to $480 billion annually worldwide. Our generation has witnessed and driven 'connecting the world', but the task is far from complete. We need to at least provide direction for the industry, which is to build a trustworthy, reliable, and everyone can rely on network, "he said. Many industry insiders are calling for the establishment of a digital security system framework to achieve real-time threat intelligence sharing and collaborative strikes across borders and industries. At the same time, policy makers in various countries should break down regulatory barriers and incorporate all Internet enterprises providing substantive communication services into the appropriate security compliance framework. Breaking down barriers and promoting collaborative governance, whether it is bridging the digital divide in the era of intelligence or combating cross-border telecommunications fraud, requires cross-border and cross industry cooperation. The industry generally believes that the biggest pain point in current global cybersecurity governance lies in regulatory lag and extreme fragmentation of rules. Mittal believes that "fighting alone" cannot cope with the "migratory" crimes of cybercriminals between different countries and platforms. Liu Guiqing stated that global operators need to collaborate and actively participate in improving the AI security governance system, promoting the healthy and orderly development of AI towards beneficial security and fairness. The development of the integrated network of space, sky, and earth also requires rules and cooperation. Vodafone Group CEO Margarita Delavalle warns that without a globally coordinated top-level design, space could easily become a "wild west" for capital to race and conquer. Currently, there is still a lack of basic consensus in the international community on how to defend the digital sovereignty of various countries and ensure communication privacy while developing the "space network". No country can solve challenges alone, we need to work together, "she said. Badrinat stated that relying solely on a single industry is difficult to meet challenges. Only when governments, operators, security experts, the financial industry, technology companies, consumers, and other parties work together and abandon zero sum games can humanity better grasp the new technological changes and make digital development more beneficial to a wider range of people. (New Society)