Nokia stock jumps 6% as AI-RAN trials expand to eight operators

Nokia’s bet on AI-powered radio networks is starting to pay off, at least in the eyes of the market. Shares of the Finnish telecom equipment maker climbed roughly 6% in early trading on September 16 to a range of $10.39 to $10.43, after the company announced that eight major operators worldwide have moved into lab and live field trials of its AI-RAN platform.

The trial roster reads like a telecom United Nations: A1 Group, Chunghwa Telecom, du, e&, Mobily, stc, TPG Telecom, and Zain Saudi are all now actively testing Nokia’s anyRAN software integrated with NVIDIA’s Aerial RAN Computer. NTT DOCOMO, which had been involved earlier, is also advancing its own trial work.

What AI-RAN actually does

Nokia’s AI-RAN approach uses software and GPU-accelerated computing to squeeze more performance out of existing infrastructure. The company says its platform has already demonstrated over 20% improvements in spectral efficiency, which is the technical way of saying it can push more data through the same radio frequencies.

Nokia is targeting 50% efficiency gains by 2027 and more than 100% by 2028. If those numbers hold, operators could effectively double their network capacity without deploying new physical infrastructure.

The platform’s commercial launch happened in July 2026, following earlier trial runs with T-Mobile US, SoftBank, and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison. Pilots with the newly announced operators are slated for late 2026, with broader commercial availability targeted for 2027.

The NVIDIA connection

Nokia and NVIDIA formalized their partnership in October 2025, when NVIDIA made a $1 billion investment focused on GPU-accelerated RAN technology.

Nokia jumped 6% while NVIDIA shares traded essentially flat. Ericsson, Nokia’s most direct competitor in telecom equipment, also treaded water.

Why telecom operators are buying in

Operators are racing to build the infrastructure for 5G Advanced and eventually 6G networks. The transition demands more efficient use of existing spectrum, smarter resource allocation, and lower latency.

Nokia is a founding member of the AI-RAN Alliance, an industry group pushing for broader adoption of AI in radio access networks.

The geographic spread of the trial operators tells its own story. A1 Group covers Central and Eastern Europe. Chunghwa Telecom is Taiwan’s largest carrier. du and e& operate across the UAE and broader Middle East. stc, Mobily, and Zain Saudi cover the Saudi Arabian market. TPG Telecom serves Australia. Combined with earlier trials involving T-Mobile US, SoftBank in Japan, and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison in Indonesia, Nokia’s AI-RAN platform is being tested across nearly every major telecom region on the planet.