The GSMA has refreshed its 26-member board, seating six new operators — Axiata Group, Millicom, NTT Docomo, Ooredoo Group, stc and Telstra — and clearing space for the next phase of 6G standardisation work, satellite regulatory frameworks and operator-led AI monetisation.

Six operators dropped off the next board: Ethio Telecom, KDDI, KT, Telenor, TIM and Veon. The departures shift the geographic centre of gravity of the industry's main policy body.

Eight incumbents remain on the board with new representatives at the table: AT&T, China Telecom, China Unicom, China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, e&, Globe Telecom and Telefonica.

Eleven members keep their existing representation: America Movil, Bharti Airtel, BT Group, Liberty Global, MTN Group, Orange, Reliance Jio, Personal (formerly Telecom Argentina), Turkcell, Verizon and Vodafone. Director general Vivek Badrinath completes the lineup.

What's on the technical agenda?

The new board takes office ahead of three heavy regulatory and standards milestones. The ITU's World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27) is scheduled for October and November 2027, where governments take binding decisions on spectrum identifications that feed directly into 6G standardisation work and which operators will reference in national spectrum auctions and network investment cases.

Initial 6G standards remain an open GSMA workstream, alongside live regulatory work on satellite and non-terrestrial network (NTN) communications — a category that moved from niche backhaul to consumer direct-to-device broadband over the past two years and now demands formal rules on spectrum, interoperability and orbital coordination.

Spectrum allocation sits at the centre of that brief, with the WRC-27 outcome shaping operator capex plans for the next mobile generation.

How does AI fit into GSMA strategy?

AI now anchors the strategic narrative under current chair Gopal Vittal. He said "open digital platforms" and the technology present opportunities to "create significant economic and societal value" — a remit the GSMA will work to unlock across the new board's tenure.

For operators, that framing covers both internal network optimisation and an unresolved commercial question: whether revenue from generative AI services settles with model providers, with hyperscalers, or with the carriers running the underlying connectivity.

Vittal also called for continued focus on "digital safety and trust", alongside tackling connectivity and usage gaps that still keep large populations offline and under-engaged — a reminder that boardroom AI ambitions coexist with the long-running industry goal of universal access.

What does the operator mix signal?

The departing cohort removes European incumbents Telenor and TIM, Japanese operator KDDI, Korean player KT and emerging-markets groups Ethio Telecom and Veon.

Joining operators tilt the mix toward the Middle East (Ooredoo, stc), Asia-Pacific (Axiata, NTT Docomo, Telstra) and Latin America-focused holdings (Millicom). That rebalancing comes as 5G standalone rollouts mature across those regions and as direct-to-device satellite partnerships accelerate outside the GSMA's formal remit.

What's the commercial stake?

For joining operators, board seats translate into direct influence over the spectrum and standards positions that drive multi-year capex programmes. For departing groups, GSMA working-group access remains — coordination happens well beyond the boardroom, and policy on AI, NTN and 6G continues to move through the GSMA's technical and policy committees.

The next board's tenure will straddle WRC-27 and the early 6G standardisation window, leaving members positioned to shape both the technical baseline and the regulatory guardrails of the next mobile generation.