The development of third-generation mobile communication systems, such as UMTS, should be based on state-of-the-art middleware technologies. Today distributed object technology (DOT), such as OMG's CORBA, has gained considerable acceptance in the telecommunications environment, within the evolution of IN, TMN systems, and also in the context of UMTS design. Another new software technology, mobile agent technology (MAT), is gaining momentum in the field of telecommunications, too. In view of emerging agent standards (such as the OMG work on MASIF) which consider mobile agent technology as an important enhancement of DOT, studies on the impact of MAT on telecommunications systems (such as IN and TMN) are underway. This article discusses the potentialities of the use of emerging standard mobile agent platforms in the context of third-generation mobile communication systems, such as UMTS.