Built on Nokia’s AI-native network architecture and NVIDIA’s accelerated computing, Nokia’s AI-RAN platform delivers a step change in network performance and economics. The AI-RAN platform has already shown more than 20% spectral efficiency gains through AI-driven radio innovations. The company is on track to deliver 50% spectral gains by 2027 and more than 100% by 2028, helping telecommunication providers carry significantly more traffic in dense cells while reducing cost per bit and improving customer experience.

Through a new software subscription model, telecommunication providers can benefit from AI innovation, new features and performance enhancements without relying on hardware refresh cycles. Nokia’s AI-RAN solutions will enter pilot deployments at the end of this year and be commercially available in 2027, with a roadmap that leverages NVIDIA’s programmable merchant silicon platforms.

One AI-native platform. Three paths to adoption

Recognizing the diversity of telecommunication providers’ network strategies and installed RAN bases, Nokia’s AI-RAN platform is built on a common software-defined architecture powered by Nokia’s anyRAN software and NVIDIA’s accelerated computing. Supporting 4G, 5G and future network evolution, it provides three hardware platform options, including an expansion card for existing AirScale deployments and a Cloud RAN alternative. Fully compliant with Open RAN standards, the platform supports open, interoperable multi-vendor deployments while giving operators the flexibility to choose the hardware and cloud environments that best meet their needs. These hardware platform options allow telecommunication providers to modernize at their own pace while preserving existing infrastructure investments, benefiting from a common software roadmap and accelerating innovation at software speed. Telecommunication providers can adopt AI-RAN in stages using the approach that best matches their deployment strategy, capacity requirements and installed base.

Build on existing investments

For existing Nokia customers, Nokia is introducing the new GPU-powered AirScale capacity plug-in unit as the most efficient path forward. Designed for Nokia’s installed AirScale base, the solution integrates NVIDIA’s accelerated computing into existing network infrastructure, enabling a significant capacity step-change through a simple upgrade path while preserving existing network investments. This approach is also supported by AI-accelerated merchant silicon from Marvell as part of Nokia’s broader ecosystem approach to software-defined AI-RAN architectures. Telecommunication providers can introduce advanced AI capabilities, continuously improve performance through software and extend the value of deployed infrastructure.  

Scale AI-native capacity anywhere

For telecommunication providers seeking maximum deployment flexibility and performance, Nokia is introducing the industry’s first GPU-powered standalone AI-RAN node. It brings AI-accelerated RAN performance to any network environment and supports 4G, 5G and future 6G workloads on a common platform. The solution can be deployed as a standalone node, in clustered configurations or alongside AirScale as a single logical base station, providing operators with a highly flexible path to scale AI-native networks while preserving deployment choice.

Enabling cloud-native AI-RAN

For telecommunication providers embracing cloud-native architectures, Nokia is introducing GPU-powered AI-RAN COTS server solutions delivered through ecosystem partners. The platforms enable an open and secure supply chain while supporting deployment on industry-standard accelerated computing infrastructure, combining cloud-native flexibility with the performance requirements of AI-native radio networks. 

Innovation at software speed

Nokia’s AI-RAN marks a fundamental shift from hardware-defined radio networks to software-defined platforms that continuously improve through software and AI innovation. Through Nokia’s new subscription-based commercial model, telecommunication providers gain ongoing access to advanced AI algorithms, spectral efficiency enhancements, network optimization capabilities and future AI-native features that can be activated through software. This approach allows them to benefit from continuous innovation while maximizing long-term returns on infrastructure investments, enabling improved TCO and performance at no hardware premium. Rather than waiting for the next hardware cycle, networks can continuously enhance performance, efficiency, security and resilience as new capabilities become available.

By combining AI-accelerated computing, advanced AI algorithms and an open ecosystem approach, Nokia is helping telecommunication providers unlock greater capacity, stronger economics and continuous innovation while building the foundation for future network evolution.

Multimedia, technical information and related news

Product page: AirScale baseband solutions

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Press release: Nokia accelerates AI-RAN momentum with new partnerships driving path to AI-Native 6G  

More than a network upgrade, this collaboration reflects a shared ambition to bring customers closer to the digital experiences that matter most to them, from immersive entertainment and gaming to more reliable connectivity for work, learning, communication, and everyday digital activities. A stronger and more flexible network foundation will enable Indosat to serve customers better by anticipating their evolving digital needs while creating experiences that are more meaningful.

The deployment will enhance network capacity, performance, and coverage across Indonesia, while supporting Indosat’s long-term ambition to expand digital access more inclusively nationwide. The upgraded network will also enable advanced consumer and enterprise use cases across key sectors, including public services, industry, and digital services.

Unlocking AI-enabled services with NVIDIA

These joint activities will not only connect Indonesia but also build the digital infrastructure for the country’s next phase of growth. This agreement reflects a shared mission to turn connectivity into a platform for intelligence. AI-RAN provides the common architecture for combining connectivity and intelligence, and Nokia’s roadmap is built on that foundation with NVIDIA. With Nokia and NVIDIA already working with Indosat on AI-RAN, the companies are on track for the next milestone: moving from the first AI-RAN call completed at Mobile World Congress 2026 to field trials in Indonesia by the end of 2026. The collaboration will also support Nokia’s work on new AI algorithms designed to improve spectral efficiency on NVIDIA AI-RAN platforms, with those capabilities expected to be part of the upcoming field trials.

By combining its centralized AI factories and distributed AI-RAN infrastructure, Indosat is advancing its AI grid, creating a unified intelligence layer that distributes both AI and connectivity to millions of Indonesians while helping drive economic growth. Grounded in local AI innovation, the model is already accelerating practical applications in government services, healthcare, education, and agriculture, supported by the AI-RAN Innovation Center in Surabaya and the NVIDIA AI Technology Center ecosystem.

As part of the agreement, Nokia will deploy its latest Habrok and Pandion radio families, Levante basebands, Centralized RAN and advanced network management and automation platforms, enabling intelligent operations, improved energy efficiency and faster service innovation. Low‑band 5G will be introduced across the full network footprint, with mid‑band 5G covering approximately 80% of the network over the next three and a half years. AI-driven automation and energy-efficient technologies will improve operational efficiency and support a more sustainable and responsible approach to digital transformation, ensuring that technological advancement delivers real impact for businesses and the millions of Indonesians who rely on connectivity every day.

Nokia, Indosat and NVIDIA are demonstrating how 5G and AI can be delivered together to support digital inclusion across Indonesia’s diverse geography. This 5G expansion project provides the connectivity foundation for an AI Grid, while the AI-RAN roadmap creates a practical path to bring AI workloads closer to the network, to deliver new value for enterprises, public services and empower every Indonesian.

Multimedia, technical information and related news

Web Page: Advanced 5G

Web Page: Radio Access Networks

Blog: Nokia AI-RAN

Whitepaper: The value creating fusion of AI and RAN

Press Release: Nokia accelerates AI-RAN momentum with new partnerships driving path to AI-Native 6G 

Through a structured co‑innovation framework, Nokia and Orange will jointly identify, design and evaluate new AI‑RAN capabilities. The collaboration aims to explore how a GPU-based radio processor can boost radio performance with more advanced receivers, and how AI can be tightly integrated into the RAN to further improve performance, support new services such as sensing, and bring greater automation and intelligence to both cloud-based and purpose‑built RAN environments.

As mobile networks evolve towards 6G, Nokia and Orange will co‑develop approaches to maximize the spectral efficiency of existing and future bands, including the upper 6 GHz band. The 6G-ready platform will enable a smooth, software-defined migration to 6G and support smarter use of compute resources across Orange’s operational footprint.

By working with Nokia and NVIDIA, Orange aims to deepen its understanding of how AI-enabled RAN functions can be integrated seamlessly into operational networks while ensuring sustainability and efficient resource utilization across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Multimedia, technical information, and related news

Webpage: AI-RAN

Webpage: AirScale Massive MIMO radios

Webpage: Nokia AirScale Baseband

The partnership marks the beginning of the AI-native wireless era, providing the foundation to support AI-powered consumer experiences and enterprise services at the edge.

In addition, the partnership addresses the fast-growing AI-RAN market, representing a significant opportunity within the RAN market that is expected to exceed a cumulative $200 billion by 2030, according to analyst firm Omdia.

Together, NVIDIA and Nokia are also laying the strategic infrastructure and opening up a new high-growth frontier for telecom providers by delivering distributed edge AI inferencing at scale.

T-Mobile U.S. will also collaborate with Nokia and NVIDIA to drive and test AI-RAN technologies as a part of the 6G innovation and development process, reinforcing its global leadership in driving wireless innovation. Trials are expected to begin in 2026, focused on field validation of performance and efficiency gains for customers.

The move will enable massive improvements in performance and efficiency, helping ensure that consumers using generative, agentic and physical AI applications on their devices will have seamless network experiences. It will also support future AI-native devices, such as drones or augmented- and virtual-reality glasses while being ready for 6G applications such as integrated sensing and communications.

Supporting Exponential Growth in AI traffic

Growth in AI traffic is exploding. For example, almost 50% of ChatGPT’s 800 million weekly active users access the site via mobile devices, and its monthly mobile app downloads exceed 40 million.

With Nokia and NVIDIA-powered AI-RAN systems, mobile operators can improve performance and efficiency as well as enhance network experiences for future generative AI and agentic AI applications and experiences. They will be able to introduce new AI services for 6G with the same infrastructure, powering billions of new connections for cars, robots, drones and augmented- and virtual-reality glasses that demand connectivity, computing and sensing at the edge.

Seamless Transition to AI-Native Networks

NVIDIA is introducing Aerial RAN Computer Pro (ARC-Pro), a 6G-ready accelerated computing platform that combines connectivity, computing and sensing capabilities, enabling telcos to move from 5G-Advanced to 6G through software upgrades.

The NVIDIA ARC-Pro reference design is available for manufacturers and network equipment providers to build commercial-off-the-shelf-based or proprietary AI-RAN products, supporting both new buildouts and expansions to existing base stations.

Nokia will accelerate the availability of its 5G and 6G RAN software on the NVIDIA CUDA® platform and expand its RAN portfolio by embedding NVIDIA ARC-Pro at the heart of the new AI-RAN solution. This partnership will enable Nokia’s mobile network customers to transition seamlessly from today’s RAN networks to future AI-RAN networks.

Nokia’s unique anyRAN approach simplifies the introduction of the ARC-Pro platform by establishing software-defined RAN evolution for both Cloud RAN and purpose-built RAN. AirScale baseband is a modular architecture in which new cards can coexist with previously deployed cards. Nokia aims to expand and evolve its AirScale baseband into the 5G-Advanced and 6G era with new AI-RAN capabilities.      

Dell Technologies is driving innovation in Nokia’s AI-RAN solution with its state-of-the-art Dell PowerEdge servers. Engineered for seamless scalability, these servers enable no-touch software upgrades and low-touch silicon upgrades, ensuring a smooth evolution from 5G to 5G Advanced and 6G. With their robust, high-performance infrastructure, Dell PowerEdge servers are the ultimate compute platform for operators deploying AI- RAN solutions.

Future Proofed for 6G

Nokia and NVIDIA’s AI-RAN platform unifies AI and radio access workloads on a software-defined, accelerated infrastructure, boosting performance, efficiency and monetization while enabling a smooth, cost-effective path to 6G.

New capabilities are added through software updates, future-proofing investments for 6G and beyond, while enabling rapid innovation cycles at the pace of AI. It serves growing generative AI and agentic AI traffic on the same sites as RAN functions, applying AI algorithms to improve spectral and energy efficiency, as well as overall network performance, and by tapping into underutilized RAN assets to host edge AI services and maximize return on investment.

Additional AI Networking Solutions Cooperation

Nokia and NVIDIA will also collaborate on AI networking solutions, including data center switching with Nokia’s SR Linux software for the NVIDIA Spectrum-X™ Ethernet networking platform and the application of Nokia’s telemetry and fabric management platform on NVIDIA AI infrastructure.

The companies will also explore the use of Nokia’s optical technologies and capabilities as part of future NVIDIA AI infrastructure architecture.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
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