As networks morph into AI-powered ecosystems, testing is no longer about checking boxes—it’s about validating behavior at scale.

That’s the message from VIAVI Solutions Inc., which has unveiled its demonstration lineup for Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2026, taking place March 2–5. At booth 5B18, the company plans to showcase more than 30 demonstrations spanning AI-RAN, quantum-safe communications, AIOps, AI data centers, and 6G readiness.

The theme: convergence.

From Isolated Domains to AI-First Systems

According to VIAVI’s CTO Sameh Yamany, previously siloed domains—networks, AI, wireless, photonics, security, and sensing—are collapsing into one tightly coupled system.

That shift has massive implications for operators and infrastructure providers. Validation now extends beyond components to encompass trust, resilience, and performance across AI-driven environments.

In practical terms, that means:

• Testing AI-RAN algorithms before live deployment

• Verifying performance across scale-up and scale-out AI data centers

• Securing communications against quantum-era threats

• Ensuring precision timing in GNSS-denied environments

In other words, infrastructure must be validated as an intelligent organism, not a collection of parts.

Digital Twins Take Center Stage

A standout feature at the booth will be VIAVI’s daily live digital twin demonstration, scheduled each day at 4 PM CET. The use case is designed to show how the company’s solutions integrate into a complete, end-to-end digital twin environment.

Digital twins are becoming essential in telecom as AI-RAN architectures mature. Instead of relying solely on physical lab testing, operators can simulate real-world conditions, train algorithms, and stress-test scenarios virtually.

VIAVI plans to dive deep into:

• Digital twin environments for training AI-RAN algorithms in 6G

• Ray-tracing-based lab testing to model real-world UE behavior

• Agentic AI-RAN digital twin scenarios

As 6G research accelerates globally, digital twins are expected to become foundational tools—not optional add-ons.

AI Data Centers and the Rise of AIOps

Beyond the radio network, VIAVI is targeting the AI data center—a rapidly expanding infrastructure layer driven by generative AI and hyperscale compute demands.

The company will demonstrate validation for scale-up and scale-out architectures, reflecting the growing complexity of AI clusters.

With hyperscalers like AWS and chip leaders like NVIDIA pushing AI compute boundaries, network performance inside and between data centers has become mission-critical.

Add AIOps into the mix, and testing extends beyond throughput and latency into predictive optimization and automated remediation.

Quantum-Safe and Assured Timing: Security Gets Physical

Security and timing technologies also feature prominently.

VIAVI will showcase optimization tools for PQC (post-quantum cryptography) and QKD (quantum key distribution), reflecting industry urgency around quantum-safe communications.

As governments and operators begin preparing for “harvest now, decrypt later” threats, validation frameworks for quantum resilience are becoming essential.

The company will also display its new ePRTC360+™, described as the only non-Cesium holdover clock capable of maintaining 100 ns accuracy in GNSS-denied environments.

In mission-critical communications—public safety networks, defense infrastructure, financial systems—assured Position, Navigation, and Timing (APNT) is no longer optional. GNSS vulnerabilities have elevated timing resilience to a board-level concern.

Non-Terrestrial Networks and 6G Horizons

The demo lineup includes testing and performance verification for Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN), signaling the increasing importance of satellite integration in next-generation telecom.

As 6G visions expand to include integrated sensing and communications (ISAC) applications—such as disaster monitoring—the validation ecosystem must evolve accordingly.

VIAVI’s collaboration roster underscores this shift. The company is working with over 20 partner organizations, including the AI-RAN Alliance, Ericsson, Nokia, Rohde & Schwarz, and others across the telecom and AI value chain.

Partnerships are becoming essential as no single vendor controls the entire AI-first infrastructure stack.

The Bigger Picture: Testing for Trust in the AI Era

Telecom is entering an AI-native phase. Networks are being optimized by algorithms, data centers are built around GPU clusters, and wireless standards are embedding AI at the protocol level.

That convergence changes testing fundamentally.

It’s no longer enough to validate whether a component meets specification. Operators must understand how systems behave under AI-driven load, adversarial conditions, and quantum-era security constraints.

VIAVI’s MWC 2026 lineup positions the company as a validation layer across that complexity—spanning 6G research, AI-RAN deployment, quantum security, and mission-critical timing.

If the telecom industry’s next chapter is about intelligent infrastructure, the companies that validate that intelligence may become just as critical as those building it.

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