MWC Barcelona 2025: VIAVI Collaborations Showcase Importance of Ecosystem in Advancement of AI-RAN, 6G, NTN and Open Networks

Rhea-AI Summary

VIAVI Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAV) announced it will showcase advances in telecom technology with over 20 industry partners at MWC Barcelona 2025, highlighting the importance of ecosystem collaboration as networks become more open and complex.

Key collaborations include partnerships with Calnex Solutions for network testing, Infosys for cloud-based network management, and companies like Samsung, NVIDIA, and academic institutions for AI-RAN development. The company will also feature 6G collaborations with Nokia Bell Labs and Qualcomm, as well as non-terrestrial networks (NTN) showcases with ITRI, KT, and Rohde & Schwarz.

VIAVI's Open RAN solutions will be prominently featured through demonstrations with multiple partners including Ericsson, Mavenir, and StarHub. According to Sameh Yamany, VIAVI's CTO, "operators must optimize and secure increasingly complex network architectures" and "it will take a community of trusted vendors to dynamically address the resulting challenges."

Positive

• Partnerships with over 20 companies at MWC Barcelona 2025
• Showcasing advanced technologies in AI-RAN, 6G, and non-terrestrial networks
• Leading role in Open RAN implementation and testing
• Collaborations with major tech companies like Samsung, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Nokia Bell Labs
• Strategic positioning as ecosystem enabler for next-generation networks

Negative

• None.

Insights

Telecom Industry Analyst

VIAVI's extensive collaboration showcase at MWC Barcelona 2025 represents a strategic positioning at the intersection of several high-growth telecom segments rather than an immediate revenue catalyst. While the news itself won't directly impact quarterly results, it reveals the company's calculated long-term strategy in an increasingly fragmented telecom ecosystem.

The partnerships span four critical technology domains that will shape telecom infrastructure investments over the next 3-7 years: AI-RAN, 6G, Non-Terrestrial Networks, and Open RAN. What's particularly notable is the breadth of VIAVI's ecosystem - from tier-1 vendors like Samsung, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm to academic institutions and research organizations - signaling the company's intent to embed its testing solutions across the entire value chain.

The AI-RAN collaborations with Samsung and NVIDIA are especially significant. As networks incorporate more AI/ML capabilities to improve performance and energy efficiency, the complexity of testing these systems increases exponentially. VIAVI appears to be positioning its TeraVM AI RAN Scenario Generator as an essential tool for validating these next-generation networks, potentially creating a new revenue stream as operators begin AI-RAN deployments in 2026-2027.

The Open RAN demonstrations with 15+ partners reflect VIAVI's established leadership in this domain. With Open RAN deployments accelerating globally and major operators committing to implementation timelines, VIAVI's comprehensive testing portfolio addresses a critical market need. The company's TM500 O-RU Tester has become an industry standard, generating consistent recurring revenue as Open RAN deployments scale.

For investors, the key takeaway is VIAVI's systematic approach to future-proofing its business model. While telecom testing represents a relatively small segment of overall network investment, it's a high-margin, mission-critical function. By establishing itself as the validation partner for next-generation technologies, VIAVI is creating multiple paths to sustained growth as these technologies mature from lab to commercial deployment.

The company's emphasis on energy efficiency testing across multiple demonstrations also aligns with operators' increasing focus on network energy savings - a priority that will only grow in importance as networks become more complex and power-intensive. This positions VIAVI to benefit from sustainability-driven network optimization initiatives.

CHANDLER, Ariz., Feb. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- VIAVI Solutions Inc. (VIAVI) (NASDAQ: VIAV) today announced it will showcase advances underpinning the key shifts in the telecom industry with over 20 companies at MWC Barcelona, March 3-6, 2025. Demonstrations at the event will reinforce the importance of the telecom ecosystem and industry collaboration as communication networks become more open and more complex.

The company will be joining with leaders from across the network, device, infrastructure, system integrator, service and academic sectors to demonstrate its technology in action.

MWC collaborations will include Calnex Solutions for network test, Infosys for cloud-based network management, leveraging Infosys Cobalt, and Samsung, NVIDIA, the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Yonsei University for AI-RAN. 

Collaborations on 6G will feature A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research (A*STAR I²R), King's College London, Nokia Bell Labs and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Showcases for non-terrestrial networks (NTN) will include Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), KT and Rohde & Schwarz.

VIAVI's solutions for Open RAN implementation and testing will also be prominent at this year's event. Open RAN demonstrations will showcase VIAVI's work with CableLabs, Calnex Solutions, Capgemini, Digital Catapult, Ericsson, i14y Lab/EANTC, Mavenir, Pegatron 5G, Quanta Cloud Technology (QCT), Radisys, Rohde & Schwarz, StarHub, SUTD, Synergy Design Technology and VVDN Technologies.

"In order to monetize their investments, operators must optimize and secure increasingly complex network architectures comprising 6G, AI and the cloud. It will take a community of trusted vendors to dynamically address the resulting challenges. The ecosystems being put in place and the standards being developed will, therefore, play a key role in the technology being delivered," said Sameh Yamany, VIAVI's Chief Technology Officer.

"With over a century in network test and optimization, VIAVI is playing a leading role in modeling, developing and enabling next-generation and mission-critical networks and we are delighted to have the support of the ecosystem at MWC."

VIAVI Collaborations on Show at MWC25

VIAVI will host demonstrations throughout MWC Barcelona both at the company's own booth (Hall 5, Stand 5A18) and at other booths, with a full listing below:

Calnex Solutions

VIAVI and Calnex Solutions are providing market-leading network test solutions enabling chip companies, network manufacturers and service providers to deliver the infrastructure and services necessary for realizing the vision of 5G, Open RAN, Defense, Security and NTN. VIAVI's NITRO^® Wireless RANtoCore test solution incorporating Calnex Paragon-Neo for network timing-synchronization and Calnex SNE-Ignite for network emulation, creates a consistent and repeatable network test solution for customers. Conformance, performance and interoperability tests can be conducted with confidence to meet the defined scenarios in the O-RAN and 3GPP specifications. The two companies will showcase solutions at Calnex Hall 7 Stand 7C63 and VIAVI Hall 5 Stand 5A18.

AI-RAN

• Samsung, NVIDIA and VIAVI will highlight the transformative potential of AI in Radio Access Networks (RAN). Samsung will showcase AI/ML-based non-uniform higher-order modulations to deliver improved performance over square QAMs. VIAVI will showcase energy-efficient neuromorphic receivers that replace several signal-processing blocks—channel estimation, equalization, and symbol de-mapping—with a single neural network, optimized for AI-based modulations. NVIDIA will feature its high-performance accelerated computing GPUs for training and validation. This demonstration is part of the AI-RAN Alliance initiative focusing on improved decoding performance and energy efficiency. Location: VIAVI Hall 5 Stand 5A18.
  
  
• Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and Yonsei University will showcase their advanced deep reinforcement learning (DRL) proposal that addresses the interference issue when multiple massive MIMO base stations are deployed together in an urban scenario. By leveraging the VIAVI TeraVM AI RAN Scenario Generator (AI RSG), the SUTD-Yonsei team has developed an advanced AI-based mobility-aware beamforming optimizer to control beam on-the-fly for interference mitigation and saving energy. This demonstration is also sponsored by the AI-RAN Alliance. Location: VIAVI Hall 5 Stand 5A18.

Digital Twin for Integrated Sensing and Communication

• Qualcomm Technologies and VIAVI will showcase a digital twin of Qualcomm's San Diego campus, leveraging VIAVI's real-time ray tracing technology for RF emulation. Integrating sensing directly into wireless networks enables near real-time detection of environmental changes, ensuring the digital twin remains a precise and actionable representation of the physical world. This high-fidelity, scalable radio digital twin reduces network and device energy consumption through optimized beam selection, along with other wireless network performance optimizations. Location: VIAVI Hall 5 Stand 5A18.

6G

• A*STAR I²R and VIAVI will showcase Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML)-based 6G position-enhanced beam management for FR3 centimeter-wave frequencies. This advanced neural network-based approach enhances beam prediction performance by combining communication-based measurements with sensing information from a real environment, enabling better prediction accuracy and throughput performance with low latency and power consumption. Location: VIAVI Hall 5 Stand 5A18.
  
  
• King's College London, Nokia Bell Labs and VIAVI will demonstrate an innovative goal-oriented and semantic communication framework with advanced multiple access for metaverse avatars, showcasing advancements in wireless eXtended Reality (XR). This collaboration highlights both academic and product innovation. Location: VIAVI Hall 5 Stand 5A18.

Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN)

• Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) will demonstrate NTN technology as part of its portfolio of 5G/6G development, supported by VIAVI advanced field verification, technology transfer services and base station end-to-end design services. Location: ITRI Hall 5 Stand 5A61.
  
  
• KT will conduct a demonstration of its 5G NTN communication technology including full HD video transmission. The joint NTN testbed from Rohde & Schwarz and VIAVI will validate performance. Location: KT Hall 4 Stand 4A60.
  
  
• Rohde & Schwarz and VIAVI will demonstrate a joint NTN digital twin testbed, including: the R&S CMX500 mobile communication network tester, with channel emulation and fading in a single box, including all 3GPP fading profiles; the VIAVI TM500-AS2; and the VIAVI TeraVM Real Data Applications (RDA) engine, enabling rich and realistic application and traffic scenarios to test system performance under varying conditions. Location: VIAVI Hall 5 Stand 5A18.

Open RAN

• CableLabs, Calnex Solutions, Capgemini, Digital Catapult, i14y Lab/EANTC, Mavenir, VVDN Technologies and VIAVI will demonstrate an end-to-end conformance, performance, interoperability and cybersecurity multi-vendor O-RAN testbed, incorporating emulated and real user equipment (UEs). A live demonstration will be featured at the EANTC stand, and other companies will be showcasing such test systems via video at their stands. Locations: EANTC Hall 7 Stand 7B81, Calnex Hall 7 Stand 7C63, Capgemini Hall 2 Stand 2K21, Digital Catapult Hall 7 Stand 7B15, Mavenir Hall 2 Stand 2H60 and VIAVI Hall 5 Stand 5A18.
  
  
• Ericsson, as a feature within its Ericsson Intelligent Automation Platform (EIAP) demonstrations, will showcase elements of the VIAVI rApps portfolio including Intent-based Antenna Optimizer and Crossed Feeder Detection. The portfolio will also be presented at the EIAP #rAppItUp session on Monday at 12:00 p.m. Also, VIAVI will join a panel session on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. Location: Ericsson Hall 2 Stand 2O60.
  
  
• Pegatron 5G and Radisys. Pegatron 5G will demonstrate low-latency communication from a Baseband Unit and Radio Unit based on the O-RAN 7.2 (O-RU), with low-latency performance validated by the VIAVI TM500 O-RU Tester. Location: Hall 5 Stand 5A82.
  
  
• Quanta Cloud Technology (QCT) and SUTD jointly developed a suite of rApps that seamlessly integrated a physical 5G network, powered by the QCT OmniPOD Private 5G solution, allowing for rapidly training and validating AI-based energy-saving strategies, with a virtual network simulated by the VIAVI TeraVM AI RSG. Location: QCT Hall 5 Stand 5E21.
  
  
• Rohde & Schwarz and VIAVI will demonstrate an O-RU testbed for massive MIMO, multi-user MIMO and beamforming, including UE emulation extending up to 16 layers with multiple user equipment (UEs). Location: VIAVI Hall 5 Stand 5A18. The two companies will also demonstrate a jointly developed automated test solution to improve network efficiency and achieve network energy savings (NES). Location: Rohde & Schwarz Hall 5 Stand 5A80.
  
  
• SUTD, StarHub and Synergy Design Technology, in collaboration with VIAVI, will present the deployment journey of an O-RAN-based Enterprise 5G solution—from lab testing and integration to real-world field trials. This demonstration highlights the consistency of results achieved during lab testing at the Asia & Pacific OTIC in Singapore (at SUTD) and the subsequent field trial. Location: VIAVI Hall 5 Stand 5A18.

About Infosys
Infosys is a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. Over 300,000 of our people work to amplify human potential and create the next opportunity for people, businesses and communities. We enable clients in more than 56 countries to navigate their digital transformation. With over four decades of experience in managing the systems and workings of global enterprises, we expertly steer clients, as they navigate their digital transformation powered by cloud and AI. We enable them with an AI-first core, empower the business with agile digital at scale and drive continuous improvement with always-on learning through the transfer of digital skills, expertise, and ideas from our innovation ecosystem. We are deeply committed to being a well-governed, environmentally sustainable organization where diverse talent thrives in an inclusive workplace.

About VIAVI
VIAVI (NASDAQ: VIAV) is a global provider of network test, monitoring and assurance solutions for telecommunications, cloud, enterprises, first responders, military, aerospace and railway. VIAVI is also a leader in light management technologies for 3D sensing, anti-counterfeiting, consumer electronics, industrial, automotive, government and aerospace applications. Learn more about VIAVI at www.viavisolutions.com. Follow us on VIAVI Perspectives, LinkedIn and YouTube.

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FAQ

What technologies will VIAVI (VIAV) showcase at MWC Barcelona 2025?

VIAVI will showcase AI-RAN, 6G, non-terrestrial networks (NTN), and Open RAN technologies through collaborations with over 20 industry partners at MWC Barcelona 2025.

Which companies is VIAVI (VIAV) collaborating with for AI-RAN at MWC 2025?

VIAVI is collaborating with Samsung, NVIDIA, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), and Yonsei University for AI-RAN demonstrations at MWC Barcelona 2025.

What 6G partnerships will VIAVI (VIAV) feature at MWC Barcelona 2025?

VIAVI will showcase 6G collaborations with A*STAR Institute for Infocomm Research, King's College London, Nokia Bell Labs, and Qualcomm Technologies at MWC Barcelona 2025.

How is VIAVI (VIAV) supporting Open RAN development at MWC 2025?

VIAVI is demonstrating Open RAN solutions with partners including CableLabs, Calnex Solutions, Capgemini, Ericsson, Mavenir, StarHub, and others, showcasing conformance, performance, and interoperability testing.

What non-terrestrial network (NTN) technologies will VIAVI (VIAV) demonstrate at MWC 2025?

VIAVI will showcase NTN technologies through collaborations with Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), KT, and Rohde & Schwarz, including a joint NTN digital twin testbed.