AI summary.
Developed jointly by Nokia and NVIDIA, the AI-RAN platform (Nokia AnyRAN + NVIDIA Aerial RAN Computer) is gaining strong global commercial momentum. Operators are moving straight from lab collaborations and concepts to actual field trials and deployments.
Key points:
Broad operator base: New partners participating in field trials and collaboration include A1 Group, Chunghwa Telecom, du, e&, Mobily, stc, TPG Telecom, and Zain Saudi. Projects with previously announced partners (such as NTT DOCOMO, T-Mobile, SoftBank, and Indosat) are progressing as planned.
Operational benefits: Nokia’s AI-RAN platform has already achieved a more than 20% improvement in spectral efficiency. Further software-based enhancements are promised in the update roadmap for 2027 and 2028.
Bridge to the 6G era: AI-RAN transforms base stations and the radio access network into a distributed AI infrastructure. It enables running AI workloads at the network edge and provides a direct, software-based upgrade path from 5G-Advanced toward an AI-native 6G network.