Press Release
Nokia accelerates AI-RAN momentum with new partnerships driving path to AI-Native 6G #MWC26
- Nokia announces significant progress in its strategic AI-RAN partnership with NVIDIA, including new customer integrations and successful functional tests of Nokia anyRAN software on NVIDIA GPU-accelerated AI-RAN platform with T-Mobile, Indosat and SoftBank Corp.
- AI-RAN gains traction with BT, Elisa, NTT DOCOMO and Vodafone Group, powered by the NVIDIA AI Aerial platform, driving the evolution of 5G and paving the way for AI-native 6G.
- Growing ecosystem of partners supports AI-RAN, including Dell Technologies, Quanta Inc, Red Hat and SuperMicro.
- The collaboration marks a strategic milestone in 5G evolution, advancing real-world AI-driven RAN deployments and the transition toward cognitive, software-defined wireless networks
- Multiple real-world AI-RAN demonstrations showcased at Nokia's booth 3B20 in Hall 3
1 March 2026
Espoo, Finland – Nokia today announced significant progress in its strategic AI-RAN partnership with NVIDIA, including new customer integrations, successful functional tests of GPU-accelerated AI-RAN and a series of groundbreaking demonstrations at Mobile World Congress 2026. This collaboration underscores the transformative potential of AI-driven radio access networks (RAN) in advancing 5G capabilities and laying the foundation for AI-native 6G. Building on the strategic partnership announced last year, Nokia and NVIDIA are working with leading operators, including BT, Elisa, NTT DOCOMO and Vodafone Group to adopt AI-RAN technologies that enhance network performance and support the explosive growth in mobile AI traffic.
"AI is the new workload reshaping networks. That shift requires architectural change across every layer — including the radio. AI-RAN transforms RAN into a software-driven platform optimized for AI, and with NVIDIA and a growing ecosystem of partners we are progressing from validation to commercial deployment. This is a foundational step toward AI-native networks and 6G," said Justin Hotard, President and CEO, Nokia.
"The telecommunications industry is at a turning point. Instead of upgrading networks in big, hardware-heavy cycles, we now have the opportunity to build them as fully software-driven systems," said Ronnie Vasishta, Senior Vice President of Telecommunications at NVIDIA. "By running AI and radio access networks on the same accelerated computing platform, we make sure the network supports business needs — not the other way around. Physical AI requires an intelligent network underpinned by AI‑RAN so operators can fully harness distributed intelligence across every layer of the network. Our AI‑RAN partnership with Nokia helps operators move faster, operate more like cloud companies, quickly launch new AI services, and smoothly evolve toward next-generation, AI‑native networks."
"The addition of leading American, Asian, and European operators, alongside a growing ecosystem of partners, signals that AI-RAN is gaining traction and has become a strategic direction for the industry. In the meantime, the completion of GPU-accelerated RAN tests in various configurations and scenarios marks a step up in maturity. We look forward to seeing the demonstrations of AI-RAN's operational readiness during MWC26," commented Rémy Pascal, Practice Leader for Mobile Infrastructure at Omdia.
AI-RAN technology readiness
In collaboration with key customers, Nokia has completed functional tests of its AI and RAN workloads on NVIDIA's GPU-accelerated AI-RAN platform, showcasing the scalability and efficiency of AI-powered RAN solutions. These tests validate the readiness of AI-RAN for real-world deployments and its ability to deliver enhanced user experiences and unlock new monetization opportunities through advanced AI services. Key customer developments include:
T-Mobile U.S.
- Nokia, T-Mobile U.S., and NVIDIA have successfully tested GPU-accelerated AI-RAN workloads at T-Mobile's AI-RAN Innovation Centre at its Seattle headquarters. In T-Mobile's over-the-air (OTA) lab environment, Nokia's AirScale Massive MIMO radio operating in the 3.7 GHz (n77) band supported user equipment (UEs) running use cases such as video streaming, generative AI queries, and AI-based video captioning. The trial demonstrated concurrent AI and RAN processing on a single NVIDIA Grace Hopper 200 server using accelerated AI-RAN workloads, highlighting the ability to combine advanced radio access network functions with AI applications on a shared accelerated computing platform.
Indosat (IOH)
- Nokia and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) achieved Southeast Asia's first AI RAN–powered Layer 3 5G call at MWC. The call used IOH's open, cloud native network with Nokia's AirScale remote radio heads (RRHs) and RAN software accelerated by NVIDIA GPUs. This milestone proves that AI and RAN workloads can run simultaneously on shared GPU infrastructure in a live operator environment, paving the way for distributed AI intelligence that makes 5G networks more efficient and intelligent and sustainable.
SoftBank Corp.
- Nokia and SoftBank Corp. (SoftBank) demonstrated how spare AI-RAN compute capacity, identified by SoftBank's AITRAS Orchestrator, can be used to run third-party AI tasks. This integration marks a key step in transforming the RAN into an AI-enabled platform capable of delivering new AI services and revenue streams beyond connectivity, running external AI workloads on AI-RAN in line with the AI-RAN Alliance's architectural guidance.
Expanding AI-RAN Ecosystem
Nokia has also expanded its ecosystem of AI-RAN partners, who are building the servers and infrastructure for AI-RAN. This includes Quanta and SuperMicro, who join Dell Technologies and build on Red Hat OpenShift for orchestration. The collaboration marks a significant step towards the commercialization of AI-RAN, enabling a wide range of COTS-based choices for telecom operators. By integrating AI into RAN solutions, Nokia and NVIDIA are driving innovation and commercialization at a global scale, enabling operators to lead the transformation of next-generation networks.
Nokia and NVIDIA are working with Red Hat to enable AI‑RAN technologies on a common cloud‑native platform, using Red Hat OpenShift and Red Hat AI Enterprise to scale NVIDIA-accelerated RAN and AI workloads across hybrid cloud environments and advance today's 5G networks toward AI‑native 6G. Complementing this, QCT's QuantaEdge EGN77C‑2U, built on the NVIDIA Aerial RAN Computer Pro platform and powered by NVIDIA RTX PRO Blackwell GPUs, the NVIDIA Grace CPU, and high-performance networking, provides a compact, energy-efficient edge solution for inline GPU-accelerated RAN processing. Integrated with Nokia's anyRAN approach, it offers operators a flexible, software-defined architecture for evolving from current 5G deployments to future AI‑RAN and 6G capabilities across both Cloud RAN and purpose-built RAN environments.
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.
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."
Multimedia, technical information, and related news
Webpage: AI-RAN
Webpage: AirScale Massive MIMO radios
Webpage: Nokia AirScale Baseband
Blogpost: NVIDIA: Software-defined AI
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