About 20 telecom operators team up with Nokia and Nvidia on AI networks
Key Facts
Nvidia announced on October 21, 2026 that about 20 global telecom operators had announced collaborations on AI-powered radio access networks using technologies it developed with Nokia. The company said T-Mobile had completed the world's first call of its kind on a commercial network using these technologies. The call relied on Nokia and Nvidia technologies, marking an operational advance in the two companies' partnership in telecommunications networks and AI. The collaborations announced by the operators include using Nokia's radio access network software with Nvidia's platform for this field. The announcement thus combines an actual call on a commercial network with an expansion of announced collaboration with telecom operators worldwide.
In its results for the second quarter of 2026, Nokia reported orders from AI and cloud customers of 2.8 billion euros, according to its financial report for the period. Management said in the report that supply remained the industry's main constraint, prompting customers to place orders further in advance. Describing the volume of contracted business, the company said: "Our AI and cloud orders reached 2.8 billion euros." Sales to this customer category during the same quarter totaled 446 million euros, according to Nokia's quarterly fact sheet. These sales rose 105% year-on-year at constant currencies, as customers placed orders covering longer periods.
Communications service providers remained a larger business base for Nokia, with sales to this customer category totaling 3,514 million euros in the second quarter of 2026. Sales to communications service providers grew 4% year-on-year at constant currencies, according to the company's quarterly fact sheet, compared with the faster growth among AI and cloud customers. Among operating segments, Network Infrastructure generated sales of 2,037 million euros in the same period. The segment's sales rose 12% year-on-year at constant currencies, according to figures Nokia released with its quarterly results. The company's total comparable net sales were about 4.8 billion euros in the second quarter, according to its investor results page.
On profitability, Nokia's comparable operating profit rose to 434 million euros in the second quarter of 2026, according to the company's earnings report. That compared with comparable operating profit of 367 million euros in the second quarter of 2025, representing year-on-year growth of 18%. Comparable diluted earnings per share were 0.07 euros in the second quarter of this year, according to the company's published investor data. Nokia, meanwhile, reported negative free cash flow of 0.7 billion euros during the same period, according to the presentation accompanying its quarterly results. The cash outflow during the quarter coincided with higher comparable operating profit and increased sales to telecom, AI and cloud customers.
The Nokia-Nvidia partnership dates back to the announcement on October 28, 2025, which included a billion-dollar investment by Nvidia in the company. According to Nvidia's statement at the time, the partnership covered collaboration on connectivity technologies for AI infrastructure, alongside the announced investment in Nokia. The statement called for "exploring the use of Nokia's optical technologies" in Nvidia's future AI infrastructure, extending the collaboration to optical technologies. In the market, Nokia shares, traded under the ticker NOK, closed at $9.02 in the October 20, 2026 session, according to EL7 data. That close preceded Nvidia's announcement of the commercial call and operator collaborations, both issued the following day as part of operational developments in the partnership.
Nokia is set to announce results for the third quarter and first nine months of 2026 on October 22, according to the date listed in its investor relations events calendar. Its published full-year outlook projected comparable operating profit of between 2.1 and 2.6 billion euros, according to its second-quarter results presentation. The results date follows the announcement of the commercial call and collaboration with telecom operators, and comes after a quarter of sales growth and higher comparable operating profit. On the partnership's next operational steps, Nvidia said BT plans to conduct live-network trials in Birmingham, England, during 2027. The trials are scheduled to be conducted with Nokia and Nvidia to test AI-powered radio access networks on the live network.