Nokia and NVIDIA Demonstrate Major Advances in AI RAN Technology with Global Operator Trials and Ecosystem Growth

Nokia and NVIDIA Demonstrate Major Advances in AI RAN Technology with Global Operator Trials and Ecosystem Growth

(IN BRIEF) Nokia has announced major progress in its AI-RAN partnership with NVIDIA, including successful testing of GPU-accelerated RAN solutions and new operator integrations with companies such as T-Mobile, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, and SoftBank. The collaboration is helping transform radio access networks into software-driven platforms capable of supporting both AI workloads and connectivity services on shared infrastructure. Additional operators including BT, Elisa, NTT DOCOMO, and Vodafone Group are also working with Nokia and NVIDIA to advance AI-RAN technologies. The growing ecosystem of partners, including Dell Technologies, Quanta, Red Hat, and Supermicro, supports commercial deployment of AI-RAN solutions. Demonstrations at Mobile World Congress 2026 highlight how AI-enabled networks can improve performance, efficiency, and service innovation while preparing the industry for AI-native 6G networks.

(PRESS RELEASE) ESPOO, 2-Mar-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — Nokia has reported major advances in its AI-RAN collaboration with NVIDIA, highlighting growing operator adoption, expanded ecosystem partnerships, and successful testing of GPU-accelerated radio access network technologies. The progress demonstrates increasing readiness for real-world deployment of AI-enabled RAN solutions and supports the evolution of 5G networks toward AI-native 6G architectures. The latest developments were presented at Mobile World Congress 2026, where Nokia showcased a range of demonstrations illustrating practical AI-RAN capabilities.

Building on their strategic partnership, Nokia and NVIDIA are working with leading telecommunications operators including BT, Elisa, NTT DOCOMO and Vodafone Group to implement AI-RAN technologies designed to enhance network efficiency and support rapidly increasing AI-driven data traffic. The collaboration focuses on transforming radio access networks into software-based platforms capable of supporting both connectivity and artificial intelligence workloads.

Justin Hotard, President and CEO of Nokia, noted that artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping network architecture and requires changes throughout the entire infrastructure, including the radio layer. He explained that AI-RAN enables radio networks to operate as software-driven platforms optimized for AI processing and said the collaboration with NVIDIA and ecosystem partners is moving the technology from validation stages toward commercial deployment, forming a foundation for future AI-native networks and 6G.

Extensive testing has been conducted with several operators to validate the performance of Nokia’s RAN software running on NVIDIA GPU-accelerated platforms. These trials demonstrate the ability to execute both AI applications and traditional RAN workloads simultaneously on shared computing infrastructure.

In the United States, Nokia, T-Mobile and NVIDIA carried out GPU-accelerated AI-RAN testing at T-Mobile’s AI-RAN Innovation Center in Seattle. Using live spectrum in an over-the-air environment, Nokia AirScale Massive MIMO radios supported devices running applications such as video streaming, generative AI queries, and AI-based video captioning. The demonstration showed that RAN processing and AI workloads can operate together on a single NVIDIA Grace Hopper 200 server.

In Southeast Asia, Nokia and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison completed the region’s first Layer 3 5G call powered by AI-RAN technology. The call was conducted using a cloud-native network with Nokia AirScale radio equipment and RAN software accelerated by NVIDIA GPUs. The achievement demonstrated that AI and network workloads can run simultaneously on shared GPU infrastructure in a live operator environment.

Nokia and SoftBank Corp. also demonstrated how available computing capacity within AI-RAN infrastructure can be used for additional AI workloads. Using SoftBank’s AITRAS Orchestrator, spare processing resources were allocated to run third-party AI applications, illustrating how operators could generate new revenue streams by offering AI computing services alongside connectivity.

Ronnie Vasishta, Senior Vice President of Telecommunications at NVIDIA, said the industry is moving toward fully software-driven networks where AI and connectivity workloads operate on shared accelerated computing platforms. He noted that AI-RAN provides a foundation for distributed intelligence across network infrastructure and helps operators introduce new AI services while evolving toward next-generation network architectures.

Nokia has continued to expand the ecosystem supporting AI-RAN deployments. Hardware and infrastructure partners now include Dell Technologies, Quanta and Supermicro, alongside Red Hat, whose OpenShift and AI Enterprise platforms support orchestration and scaling of AI-accelerated workloads across hybrid cloud environments. These collaborations support commercial deployment of AI-RAN solutions using common off-the-shelf hardware.

The integration of Nokia’s anyRAN approach with GPU-accelerated infrastructure allows operators to implement flexible, software-defined architectures that support both current 5G deployments and future AI-RAN and 6G capabilities. Compact edge computing platforms based on NVIDIA Aerial technology provide energy-efficient processing for distributed network environments.

Rémy Pascal of Omdia noted that the involvement of major operators across multiple regions demonstrates that AI-RAN is emerging as a key strategic direction for the telecommunications industry. He highlighted the successful testing of GPU-accelerated RAN workloads as evidence of increasing maturity and readiness for operational deployment.

At Mobile World Congress 2026, Nokia is presenting multiple demonstrations of AI-RAN technologies, including applications such as computer vision with reasoning capabilities, robotic systems connected through the network, and the use of radio infrastructure as a sensing platform. The demonstrations also show how distributed GPU resources within AI-RAN environments can be used to provide AI computing services to external customers while improving network efficiency and enabling new AI-driven applications.

AI-RAN at MWC26

At MWC26, Nokia’s booth 3B20 in Hall 3 will feature multiple live demonstrations of AI-RAN technologies, highlighting their role in enabling cognitive, software-defined radio systems. This includes Vision AI with reasoning capabilities from Vaidio, a delivery robot from ServeRobotics that can transform retail and the use of the radio network itself as a sensor for the physical world. There will be a demonstration of how spare GPU capacity in the distributed AI‑RAN network can be monetized by offering AI compute to external customers. Nokia’s demonstrations also showcase how AI-RAN can optimize network operations, improve energy efficiency and support new AI-driven applications.

Multimedia, technical information, and related news

Webpage: AI-RAN

Webpage: AirScale Massive MIMO radios

Webpage: Nokia AirScale Baseband

Blogpost: NVIDIA: Software-defined AI

Supporting Quotes

BT Group

“AI‑RAN is one of several areas we’re actively exploring as part of the longer-term evolution of our radio access network. Working with partners across the ecosystem helps us better understand where new approaches could deliver meaningful benefits – from performance and resilience through to operational simplicity and, ultimately, customer experience – as we assess future network architectures,” said Reza Rahnama, MD Mobile, BT Group.

Dell Technologies

“The successful completion of functional tests by Nokia and NVIDIA demonstrates that GPU-accelerated AI-RAN workloads can run on scalable, proven infrastructure at the edge. Our Dell PowerEdge servers are engineered to deliver the high-performance compute foundation that operators will need as AI-native networks move from the lab to the field. With no-touch software upgrades and low-touch silicon upgrades, Dell PowerEdge provides a smooth, cost-effective path from 5G-advanced to 6G,” said Andrew Vaz, Vice President, Dell Technologies.

Elisa

“Elisa is a global pioneer in applying AI across its networks. Together with Nokia and NVIDIA, we are bringing AI-RAN closer to commercial reality. AI-RAN is a key enabler for optimizing end-to-end network performance, enhancing service quality, and advancing toward AI‑native 6G — as well as future agentic, robotic, and ultimately physical AI,” said Sami Komulainen, COO and EVP, Technology and Operations, Elisa.

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison

Vikram Sinha, President Director and CEO of Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison, said: “This is not just about proving that the technology works. It is about ensuring that every Indonesian, wherever they are, can benefit from the digital and AI era. Our commitment is simple: no one should be left behind.”

NTT DOCOMO

“As part of AI-Centric Network strategy, DOCOMO is accelerating AI-driven automation, autonomous network operations, and integrating computing resources to enable the seamless migration of AI and device applications into the network. Through these strategic initiatives, DOCOMO aims to deliver a more advanced, differentiated, and superior customer experience. We are pleased to advance the realization of AI-Centric Network together with Nokia, a trusted partner that supports us across every aspect of our business,” said Takaaki Sato, Senior Executive Vice President and CTO, NTT DOCOMO, INC.

Quanta

“Nokia’s expansion of its AI‑RAN ecosystem marks an important milestone in the evolution of wireless networks,” said Mike Yang, President of QCT. “As part of this growing ecosystem, QCT is proud to collaborate with Nokia and NVIDIA to deliver our server platforms with the infrastructure required to bring AI‑native RAN to life.”

Red Hat

“The transition to AI-RAN is a pivotal moment in the evolution of 5G, but its success depends on the ability to scale and monetize these complex workloads across diverse environments without increasing operational silos,” said Chris Wright, chief technology officer and senior vice president, Global Engineering, Red Hat. “By providing a common, cloud-native foundation powered by Red Hat OpenShift, we are enabling service providers to unify their network and AI applications on a single platform. This consistency is essential for a faster ROI and accelerating the delivery of AI-native 6G, giving our customers the flexibility to deploy and scale intelligent services from the core to the edge with full control over their technology stack.”

SoftBank Corp.

“In AI-RAN, it is important for telecommunications operators to maximize the value of their compute resources,” said Ryuji Wakikawa, Vice President and Head of the Research Institute of Advanced Technology at SoftBank Corp. “Our demonstration of external AI workload integration through our enhanced AITRAS Orchestrator marks a significant milestone in this effort. This initiative aligns with the architectural principles of the AI-RAN Alliance and supports the continued evolution of AI-RAN.”

SuperMicro

“The momentum behind AI-RAN signals a fundamental shift in how mobile networks are designed and deployed, and our collaboration with Nokia and NVIDIA demonstrates how quickly the ecosystem can move from concept to real-world deployment,” said Cenly Chen, Chief Growth Officer, Supermicro. “Supermicro is delivering purpose-built, GPU-optimized infrastructure to help operators scale performance, efficiency, and deployment speed of current 5G infrastructure while laying the foundation for AI-native 6G networks.”

T-Mobile U.S

“At T-Mobile’s AI-RAN Innovation Center, we worked with Nokia and NVIDIA to complete an over-the-air demonstration call using commercial RAN software, where Layer 1 workloads ran on GPU acceleration alongside AI applications on the NVIDIA Grace Hopper platform,” said John Saw, President, Technology & Chief Technology Officer. “Conducted using live spectrum, a commercial C-band radio and a standard 5G smartphone, the demo provided valuable insight into how AI and RAN workloads can operate together on shared infrastructure, informing our ongoing evaluation of future network architectures.”

Vodafone Group

Marco Zangani, Director of Network Strategy and Architecture, Vodafone, said: “We are entering the next evolution of AI that goes far beyond being a network add-on. Vodafone, together with Nokia and an ecosystem of global partners, is advancing the development of compute-platforms at its Málaga Innovation Centre that will form the nucleus of future autonomous, AI-native, and 6G-ready networks.”

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SOURCE: Nokia