Doha will stage two of the telecommunications world's biggest gatherings under one roof this November, putting the ministers who write the rules and the companies that build the networks in the same building for the first time.
MWC26 Doha runs at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center from November 8 to 10, organised by the GSMA in partnership with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. Overlapping it, and running far longer, is the International Telecommunication Union's Plenipotentiary Conference — PP-26 — which occupies the same venue from November 9 to 27 under the Communications Regulatory Authority.
The scheduling is deliberate. A delegate arguing over global spectrum policy in the morning can, in the afternoon, walk a few metres and put hands on the equipment that policy will govern. Organisers describe it as a single platform linking digital policy direction with the technology already in the field — a model no other host city has attempted at this scale.
The stakes for the ITU meeting are considerable. Held once every four years, the Plenipotentiary is the union's supreme policy-making body: it sets strategic and financial direction, elects the organisation's five most senior officials, seats 48 member states on the ITU Council and picks the 12 members of the Radio Regulations Board. Getting the chair's gavel is not a ceremonial prize.
That gavel goes to Engineer Ahmad bin Abdulla al-Muslemani, president of the CRA and chair-designate of PP-26, who said hosting the conference alongside MWC26 reflected Qatar's leading role in shaping global connectivity and the regulatory frameworks behind it. He said the authority was committed to a regulatory environment that supports digital transformation, and expressed hope the conference would help steer international telecoms policy towards a more inclusive and sustainable digital ecosystem.
HE the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mohammed bin Ali al-Mannai said running the two events concurrently reflected Qatar's growing role in shaping the future of global connectivity and telecoms policy, and reinforced the country's commitment to the Digital Agenda 2030 and Qatar National Vision 2030, and to building a thriving digital economy and a sustainable digital society.
The commercial read is equally plain. GSMA director general Vivek Badrinath said the inaugural MWC Doha last year had demonstrated the scale of Qatar's digital ambition, and that pairing this edition with the Plenipotentiary would put policymakers and industry leaders in the same room — regulators, ministers, operators and technology chiefs, all arguing about the same future.
The numbers from the first edition give the pairing its weight. MWC Doha 2025 drew more than 9,000 participants from 110 countries and territories, close to 300 speakers and over 250 exhibitors and sponsors, and produced announcements of more than 30 partnerships and initiatives.
Returning this year is the GSMA Ministerial Programme, the closed-door track where digital governance and investment priorities get thrashed out. Its last edition drew 60 delegations from 49 countries alongside 11 intergovernmental organisations.
The CRA is handling organisational and operational preparations for member states and international organisations attending PP-26.