Nokia partners with Telia Finland on AI-RAN use cases

Nokia and Telia Finland announced a collaboration to co-create use cases for AI-driven Radio Access Network (RAN) (AI-RAN), an effort the companies framed as intended to support commercialization of AI-enabled applications and to improve network performance.

Nokia described AI-RAN as a key enabler for future business opportunities and for improvements in network performance and efficiency, and the collaboration was presented with a stated focus on commercial applications across different segments, including mission critical.

The statement referenced completed functional AI-RAN tests with key customers and outlined demonstrations at MWC26 that were listed as featuring live uses of AI-RAN technologies. The MWC26 items included Vision Artificial Intelligence (AI) with reasoning capabilities from Vaidio, a delivery robot from ServeRobotics, use of the radio network as a sensor for the physical world, and trials to monetize spare Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) capacity in a distributed AI-RAN network by offering AI compute to external customers, along with demonstrations related to network operations optimization, energy efficiency and support for new AI-driven applications.

“In order to be ready for the AI Supercycle, networks must deliver deterministic, trusted connectivity with transparency, traceability and safety controls embedded by design. We are working closely with our customers to get there, together. This collaboration with Telia is an important building block in our AI-RAN strategy to build a powerful ecosystem,” said Pallavi Mahajan, Chief Technology and AI Officer, Nokia. “The collaboration with Nokia on AI-RAN use cases is an essential part of our journey on Autonomous Networks and will benefit our customers with increased network performance and reliability,” said Stefan Jäverbring, Group CTO and Head of Networks, Telia.

The companies described plans to jointly develop and test use cases on AI-driven RAN technology to enhance network performance and support the commercialization of AI-enabled applications.