Cover Image: Cristina Rodriguez, Vice President in the Network and Edge Group (NEX) and General Manager of NEX at Intel displays an Intel® Xeon® 6 SoC at Intel’s MWC 2026 booth.
News Highlights:
- AI-accelerated transformation drives efficiency with AI inference in live mobile networks enabled by Intel® Xeon® 6 SoC with built-in AI.
- Optimized Intel Xeon 6 processors with Efficient-cores (E-cores) demonstrate hardware-based protection using Intel® Trust Domain Extensions (Intel® TDX) for truly cost-effective, Zero Trust 5G Core security.
- Intel’s Cristina Rodriguez and Chandresh Ruparel discuss 5G leadership across radio access network (RAN), Core, and Edge AI, with a look ahead at 6G.
- Intel 18A is ready for customer projects with an optimized process node to meet the unique needs of mobile apps.
MWC 2026 is a wrap and—no surprise—it was a stellar event. Inspiration and innovation were abundant, driven by collaborations and informative connections with Intel partners, including Ericsson, Samsung, Cisco, HPE, Dell, tier 1 operators around the world, and many more.
And what a moment to be meeting! We’re seeing AI, edge computing, and next-gen networks push the boundaries of what’s possible. This is a time of enormous innovation and possibility, and MWC brought the best and brightest in the telco industry to Barcelona.
At the event, Intel highlighted how operators and enterprises can scale next-gen infrastructure without the cost and complexity of rip-and-replace upgrades. By embedding intelligence into our platforms, we bring the power of the data center to where data is created and consumed. The result? More insight, more efficiency, more innovation: more intelligence from existing infrastructure.
Intel Xeon technology is 5G’s most deployed platform;(1) it powers commercial 5G at global scale. Our latest-generation platforms, Intel Xeon 6 processors with E-cores and Intel Xeon 6 SoC, are purpose-built for performance and efficiency, and they’re future-ready, with AI built in. Customers can do it all—network, security, AI—on one platform.
For RAN, Intel Xeon 6 SoC delivers up to 2.4x more RAN capacity and up to 70% performance-per-watt improvement compared to the prior generation,(2) and it scales up to 72 cores. This means where operators used to deploy two servers, they can now deploy just one, a significant reduction in their space requirements, power consumption, and total cost of ownership. At MWC, partners including Dell, HPE, and Rakuten launched single-server solutions powered by Intel Xeon 6 SoC.
With AI built into Intel Xeon 6 SoC via Intel® Advanced Matrix Extensions (Intel® AMX), operators and enterprises can deploy inference in live networks today, without the cost, complexity, power, and space requirements of additional hardware. The AI journey becomes economical and scalable, accessible for all.
Intel Xeon 6 SoC is impressively and intentionally architected, but it’s real results that matter. At MWC, we were proud to showcase the AI capabilities of Intel Xeon 6 SoC with commercial announcements and demos from AT&T, Ericsson, Samsung, SK Telecom, Rakuten Mobile, Cisco, Google Cloud, and more.
In our core network, as 5G requirements intensify, power efficiency alone is no longer sufficient to address growth and emerging operational challenges. Intel Xeon 6 with E-cores meets operator demand for platforms that combine power efficiency with built-in security features and long-term flexibility. Demonstrated by partners like Nokia, the architecture integrates Zero Trust security through Intel TDX to help protect sensitive data in use while still maintaining network KPIs. It also accelerates data in transit with Intel® QuickAssist Technology (Intel® QAT) and enables 5G Core AI inferencing to run on existing infrastructure—allowing new capabilities to be scaled without disruptive network redesigns.
Whether through impressive levels of RAN efficiency, built-in AI integration, or innovations across our core network, Intel’s focus on efficient, high-capacity performance helps eliminate the need for costly additional hardware and deliver optimized total cost of ownership (TCO)—all with a smaller footprint and less complexity.
Fan-favorite demos from MWC 2026
Rugged, Zero-Footprint Cloud RAN Solution: Developed by Rakuten Mobile, Dell, and Intel, this outdoor distributed unit (DU) leverages Intel Xeon 6 SoC and Dell platform hardware with advanced liquid cooling technology, enabling a high-capacity O-RAN solution, exceptional power efficiency, and AI-native performance for the Rakuten network. With our partners, we’re extending network capacity and capabilities, like enterprise AI, to critical infrastructure with demanding cost, power, and space requirements.
Experience Edge AI: Attendees experienced a live holographic digital assistant, created with Cisco and powered by an on-premises small language model (SLM). Next, they stopped by our smart “futbol” stadium for some concession snacks. There, real-time compute vision automated and expedited their checkout experience as real-time crowd analytics ran with 360-degree broadcast video to further improve the fan experience while safeguarding personal data. All of these high-bandwidth workloads were powered in real time and at the edge by Intel Xeon 6 SoC.
Zero Trust security for the 5G Core: In this Nokia showcase, Intel Xeon 6 processors with E-cores demonstrated hardware-based protection using Intel TDX for highly secure execution and Intel QAT for accelerated encryption. Nokia’s 5G core is pre-validated and optimized for Intel Xeon 6 processors, reducing server install footprint. That means you get cost-effective, power-efficient performance—at scale.
Video from Intel at MWC
I joined Chandresh Ruparel, Intel General Manager, Wireline and Core Network Division, to discuss innovation at the edge, the core network, Intel’s future-ready RAN architecture, and what surprises the path from 5G to 6G might hold. Dig into specifics about workload transformation that will provide key capabilities to customers without having to increase complexity—watch 5G leadership across RAN, Core, and Edge AI on the road to 6G.
Groundbreaking innovations from Intel 18A
We introduced Intel 18A, the latest advancement in Intel Foundry process technology and the company’s biggest process innovation yet. To address the unique needs of mobile applications, Intel offers an optimized Intel 18A-P process node to accelerate new breakthrough design possibilities. Get more details about Intel 18A, and explore our new Intel 18A-based Intel Xeon 6+ processor for Edge AI and early 6G infrastructure.
Questions?
Get in touch with one of our experts, or visit the website to access more blogs, case studies, and other info on Intel Xeon 6 processors.
(1) Intel® platforms support the most virtualized network servers globally and are the most widely adopted vRAN platform.
(2) See [7ND21-7ND22] at intel.com/processor claims: Intel® Xeon® 6. Results may vary.
Notices and Disclaimers
Performance varies by use, configuration, and other factors. Learn more on the Performance Index site.
Performance results are based on testing as of dates shown in configurations and may not reflect all publicly available updates. See backup for configuration details. No product or component can be absolutely secure.
Your costs and results may vary.
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