Nokia officially introduced its new AI-RAN platform on July 15, describing it as the industry’s first AI-powered radio access network platform. Built on Nokia’s anyRAN software and NVIDIA Aerial, the platform is designed to help telecom operators maximize network capacity by making more efficient use of the spectrum they already own.
At the core of the platform is the use of artificial intelligence to improve spectral efficiency without requiring a complete overhaul of existing network infrastructure. According to Nokia, early testing has already demonstrated spectral efficiency gains of more than 20%.
The company aims to increase that figure to 50% by 2027 and exceed 100% by 2028, a milestone that could effectively double the capacity of existing spectrum resources. However, these are long-term targets rather than confirmed results. Nokia plans to begin pilot deployments by the end of this year, with commercial availability expected in 2027.
Rather than relying on costly hardware upgrades, the AI-RAN platform will be offered through a software subscription model. Operators will be able to choose from three deployment options: a GPU-powered plug-in card for existing AirScale sites, a standalone AI-RAN node, or a cloud-based server deployment delivered through Nokia’s technology partners.
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