GSMA names robotics, drones and vehicles as Asia priorities

GSMA Director General Vivek Badrinath said at MWC Shanghai 2026 that humanoid robotics, the low-altitude economy and autonomous or connected vehicles are three of the most promising markets emerging from Asia’s mobile ecosystem. He said mobile networks are moving beyond connecting people and businesses toward supporting intelligent systems that sense, decide and act in the physical world.

On robotics, Badrinath said robots are moving from labs into commercial use cases that depend on advanced connectivity. He cited China Mobile’s work on hospitality robots for order collection, preparation and delivery; China Telecom’s work with AgiBot on a Robotics-as-a-Service model for aviation and logistics; and China Unicom’s use of robots in chemical industries for inspection, diagnosis and hazard response.

On low-altitude services, Badrinath said China has more than 3 million registered drones, with thousands airborne at peak periods, and that total flight time in 2025 exceeded 45 million hours, up 70% from 2024. He said China Mobile uses drones for inspections at remote sites including power stations, solar farms and railways; China Telecom uses them for air-quality and pollution monitoring in Nanjing; and China Unicom is developing delivery use cases including blood transport to hospitals in Anyang. He added that all three operators are building platforms to monitor airspace, identify risks and support safer operations.

On vehicles, Badrinath said Chinese operators are treating cars as connected, software-defined platforms. He said China Mobile is building an AI ecosystem linking user devices, vehicles and smart homes; China Telecom is integrating non-terrestrial networks into vehicles for remote maintenance and emergency connectivity; and China Unicom is developing Vehicle-to-Everything capabilities for hazard detection and vehicle-to-vehicle communications.