Key points
- Nokia and SoftBank plan a 2027 AI-RAN trial
- Nvidia hardware will power the test
- Nokia-SoftBank trial size and terms undisclosed
- Nokia reports earnings Oct. 22
Nokia (NOK) and SoftBank Corp. plan to test whether shared Nvidia (NVDA) hardware can run mobile network software and AI workloads under live traffic conditions in Japan. The trial is scheduled for 2027, Nokia announced on Oct. 20, two days before its third-quarter earnings report.
The technology, called AI-RAN, combines AI computing with the radio access network that connects phones to cell towers. The trial will put Nokia's radio software on SoftBank's computing platform, testing the setup beyond the lab and on an operating mobile network.
Nokia's US-listed shares closed down 0.7% at $9.02 on Oct. 20. SoftBank Corp., the Japanese mobile carrier that trades separately from parent SoftBank Group, rose 0.4% to 247.2 yen in Tokyo. Its US shares trade over the counter as SOBKY.
Nvidia hardware will power the trial
Nokia's anyRAN software will run on SoftBank's AITRAS platform using Nvidia's Aerial RAN Computer. The system pairs a Grace CPU with an RTX PRO 4500 GPU and ConnectX-8 networking.
SoftBank's AITRAS Orchestrator software will manage the AI and radio workloads, working with Nokia's MantaRay network software. "Our planned field trial with Nokia will mark a significant milestone in AI-RAN's transition from concept to execution," said Ryuji Wakikawa, SoftBank Corp.'s chief technology officer.
Pallavi Mahajan, Nokia's chief technology and AI officer, said AI-RAN "has the potential to unlock new levels of spectral efficiency while providing the distributed intelligence needed to support physical AI."
Nokia and SoftBank gave no size or price
The release doesn't say how many sites the trial will cover, where in Japan it will run, or when in 2027 it will start. The companies disclosed no financial terms, and the agreement covers only the trial.
The trial builds on the companies' existing AI-RAN work with Nvidia. Nvidia agreed in October 2025 to invest $1 billion in Nokia at $6.01 a share as part of an AI-RAN partnership. Nokia's Oct. 20 close is 50% above that price by our arithmetic.
Nokia's third-quarter report follows a second quarter in which its sales to AI and cloud customers rose 105% from a year earlier.
