Thousands of participants from academia, business, government and investment are due to gather in Barcelona soon, for Mobile World Congress (MWC) – the premier annual event for the telecoms industry – taking place from 3 – 5 March 2026. This year’s MWC Barcelona is focused on four key pillars – iconic thinking, big ideas, latest tech and global change – kickstarting the products and services that everyone will be using in the future and working together to create a world where no one is left behind.

We are delighted to announce that a team from the LRDC will be representing the TITAN Telecoms Hub at MWC Barcelona 2026. Dr Iman Tavakkolnia, Professor Harald Haas, Dr Othman Younus and PhD student Yifan Huang will be demonstrating, live, a one-of-a-kind optical wireless positioning system – the result of work being undertaken for ‘Mini Project 12’ – within the broader ‘Lighthouse Project 1: Network intelligence and end-to-end integration’.

The innovative prototype is specifically designed for indoor spaces, with the ability to deliver an optimum combination of sub-centimetre 3D accuracy, low latency and high privacy. In the context that GPS does not work indoors, and existing alternatives such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, cameras and LiDAR struggle with accuracy, privacy, scalability and cost management, the new system offers clear operational and end-user benefits. It also addresses the recognised industrial need for reliable, low-latency, sub-centimetre positioning for applications such as robotics, asset tracking and smart manufacturing.

The result is an optical wireless positioning method that utilises received signal strength in tandem with simulation trained machine learning models, to achieve high levels of accuracy without expensive hardware, or large-scale data collection. Other distinct advantages of the system are that it comprises standard optical components and can be integrated into a single printed circuit board (PCB), making it a low cost option for scalable deployment.

If you are attending MWC Barcelona 2026, you can find the LRDC team within the TITAN Telecoms Hub exhibit – located on the Federated Telecoms Hubs (FTH) Stand: 7B43 | Hall 7 – alongside the CHEDDAR Hub, HASC Telecoms Hub and JOINER Platform. Visit the stand to experience an extensive range of cutting edge new telecoms technologies, primed for market readiness, and talk to leading experts behind their development.

Visit the MWC Barcelona 2026 website for full details of this year’s programme and exhibition.