Nokia has unveiled what it describes as the telecom industry's first commercial AI-RAN platform, marking a significant step in the evolution of radio access networks as operators prepare for AI driven mobile services and future 6G deployments. Developed in collaboration with NVIDIA, the platform is designed to improve network efficiency while enabling telecom providers to support artificial intelligence workloads on existing infrastructure.
The announcement comes as mobile operators face increasing pressure to handle growing AI related traffic without relying on expensive hardware replacement cycles. Nokia said its AI-RAN platform combines the company's AI native anyRAN software with NVIDIA's Aerial AI-RAN platform, allowing operators to modernise networks through software driven upgrades rather than large scale infrastructure overhauls.
According to Nokia, the platform is designed to significantly improve spectral efficiency, enabling operators to extract greater performance from existing spectrum assets. The company said the technology aims to deliver more than 100 percent gains in spectral efficiency by 2028, effectively doubling network capacity using existing spectrum resources. Initial targets include a 50 percent improvement by 2027, with pilot deployments expected to begin later this year ahead of commercial availability in 2027.
The platform supports multiple deployment models, allowing operators to upgrade existing Nokia AirScale infrastructure, deploy standalone AI-RAN nodes powered by GPU accelerated computing or adopt cloud based architectures. Nokia also said its anyRAN software portfolio will become fully O-RAN compliant, giving telecom providers greater flexibility to modernise networks at their own pace while maintaining compatibility with multi vendor ecosystems.
Nokia believes AI-RAN represents more than an incremental network upgrade. The company says AI accelerated computing at radio base stations transforms them into distributed computing platforms capable of processing AI workloads closer to where data is generated. This approach is expected to improve network responsiveness while creating new revenue opportunities for operators through edge AI services.
The launch reflects the broader shift taking place across the telecommunications industry as artificial intelligence becomes an increasingly important network workload. Traditional mobile infrastructure was primarily designed for human generated traffic such as voice, video and web browsing. However, AI assistants, autonomous systems and intelligent applications require faster, more deterministic connectivity and significantly greater uplink capacity, driving operators to rethink network architecture.
Industry analysts view AI-RAN as one of the foundational technologies for future AI native 6G networks. By combining radio access infrastructure with AI computing resources, operators can improve operational efficiency while supporting enterprise AI applications at the network edge. The software centric architecture also enables continuous performance improvements through subscription based updates instead of periodic hardware refreshes.
The announcement also strengthens Nokia's strategic partnership with NVIDIA, which has expanded steadily over the past year through joint work on AI powered telecom infrastructure. Earlier demonstrations with operators including T-Mobile, SoftBank, Elisa and NTT DOCOMO validated AI-RAN capabilities ahead of commercial deployment.
As telecom operators increasingly position networks to support AI driven services, Nokia's latest platform signals the industry's transition towards software defined, AI native infrastructure. The company expects AI-RAN to become a key building block for future mobile networks, helping operators improve efficiency, unlock new business models and prepare for the demands of next generation AI applications.