MWC Barcelona 2026 has drawn to a close, and it was by any measure a significant edition of the event. Nearly 105,000 attendees gathered at Fira Gran Via to mark the conference’s 20th anniversary, and the programme reflected an industry that is increasingly clear-eyed about where it is heading. Under the theme “The IQ Era,” discussions centred on AI, intelligent infrastructure, and the future of connectivity, not as aspirational concepts, but as operational realities that businesses are actively navigating today.
A Week of Substantive Conversations
Scalstrm did not have a stand, but that did not diminish the value of the week. Some of the most substantive conversations at an event of this scale happen outside the exhibition hall, in the meeting rooms and scheduled sessions where there is space for genuine dialogue. Over the course of the event, I held meetings with representatives from broadcasters, streaming platforms, Pay TV operators, and technology partners across the globe.
Several consistent themes emerged across those conversations. The pressure to scale video infrastructure cost-effectively, the growing expectations of audiences who have little tolerance for quality issues, and the question of how AI can be applied meaningfully rather
than superficially; these were the issues at the forefront of almost every discussion. The streaming industry is at an inflection point, and the organisations best positioned to navigate it are those investing in infrastructure that is built for efficiency and adaptability from the ground up.
Scalstrm at the AWS Booth: The Telenor Story Live on the Floor
One of the highlights of the week was the opportunity to showcase what is possible when the right technology partners come together. At the AWS booth, AWS, Telenor, and Scalstrm jointly presented the Telenor Nordic TV platform as part of the “Meeting Audiences: From Time-Shifted TV to AI-Powered Highlights Generation” demonstration in the Breakthrough Innovations and Growth Initiatives area.
The Telenor platform is a compelling example of cloud-native transformation at scale. Telenor is already processing more than 20% of its portfolio of commercial channels across Finland, Norway, and Sweden on the new platform, having moved from planning to production in under a year; a deployment timeline that would have taken more than three years with a traditional on-premises approach. The platform delivers Live TV, Start-Over, Catch-Up, Network Personal Video Recorder, and Video on Demand across the full Nordic footprint, with an ambition to reduce operating costs by up to 50% in certain areas.
Scalstrm’s role in that collaboration centres on cloud-native origin, built on Infrastructure as Code for consistent and repeatable deployments, and the foundation for future capabilities including Just-In-Time Transcoding. It is a real-world demonstration of what modernised streaming infrastructure looks like in practice, and the response from visitors to the AWS booth throughout the week was genuinely encouraging.
The Broader Industry Conversation
What became evident throughout the week was how well Scalstrm’s proposition aligns with the direction the industry is moving. The conversations at MWC this year were defined by a clear desire for smarter, more adaptive infrastructure, systems capable of delivering more without requiring ever-increasing investment. Scalstrm’s cloud-native, software-based microservices platform addresses exactly that challenge: just-in-time transcoding and packaging that eliminates unnecessary resource consumption; significantly reduced storage and compute requirements that lower both costs and energy footprint; and high-
performance, low-latency delivery that ensures a consistently high-quality viewer experience.
The message is straightforward. Operators do not need to accept the complexity and cost that has historically come with large-scale video delivery. There is a better way to run streaming infrastructure, and the industry is ready to hear it.
Looking Ahead
I would like to thank everyone who took the time to meet and engage in such thoughtful discussions during the event. For those who did not have the opportunity to connect with us at MWC Barcelona, we would warmly welcome the chance to continue the conversation. Please feel free to reach out to explore how Scalstrm can support your streaming operations and help you meet the challenges ahead.
