• Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison deploys AI-RAN in Southeast Asia with Nokia and NVIDIA.
• The AI-RAN solution combines Nokia’s 5G Cloud RAN and NVIDIA AI Aerial.

At MWC 2025, Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison became the first mobile operator in Southeast Asia to deploy AI-RAN (Artificial Intelligence Radio Access Network), in collaboration with Nokia and NVIDIA. The deployment integrates Nokia’s 5G Cloud RAN solution with NVIDIA AI Aerial, creating what the companies term a unified computing infrastructure that hosts both AI and RAN workloads.

AI and telecom convergence

Indosat is the world’s third operator to deploy AI-RAN commercially. The recent initiative combines AI and wireless connectivity to improve network performance, efficiency, and service capabilities. As part of the partnership, the companies have signed an MOU to develop, test, and deploy AI-RAN solutions. The initial focus will be on AI inferencing workloads using NVIDIA AI Aerial, followed by the full integration of RAN workloads on the same platform.

Indosat, Nokia, and NVIDIA will work with Indonesian universities and research institutes to advance AI-driven telecom applications, support academic research and student training, and drive innovation in network optimisation, spectral efficiency, and energy management.

AI-RAN’s role in network transformation

The AI-RAN infrastructure is expected to change Indosat’s network strategy, letting the company share infrastructure costs for multiple applications and introduce AI-powered services. The integration’s aims of improving spectral efficiency and reduction in energy use laying the groundwork for future 6G improvements.

The initiative is in line with Indonesia’s national AI strategy, establishing Indosat as an enabler of AI services rather than just a telecom provider. The company has established a ‘Sovereign AI Factory’ in Indonesia, designed to support startups, enterprises, and government organisations in developing AI applications for healthcare, education, and agriculture. With NVIDIA AI Enterprise software and serverless APIs, Indosat plans to scale AI inferencing for Indonesia’s population of 277 million, optimising AI workloads across the network.

Expanding AI capabilities across applications

The provided serverless API framework, created in collaboration with NVIDIA, will allow Indosat’s AI partners, including Hippocratic.ai, Personal.ai, GoTo, and Accenture, to deploy distributed inference engines on a large scale.

Indosat President Director and CEO Vikram Sinha made clear the broader impact of AI integration in telecom, saying, “By embedding AI into our radio access network, we’re not just enhancing connectivity – we’re building a nationwide AI-powered ecosystem that will fuel innovation across industries. This aligns with our mission to connect and empower every Indonesian.”

Deployment roadmap

The AI-RAN rollout will follow a phased approach:

• Early 2025: A 5G AI-RAN lab established in Surabaya to support development, testing, and validation.
• Second half of 2025: Launch of a small-scale commercial pilot to test AI inferencing workloads running on the NVIDIA AI-RAN infrastructure.
• 2026: Broader expansion of AI-RAN deployment.

Industry perspectives

Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, stated: “When you combine AI with RAN, you create an engine for future innovation. With our 5G Cloud RAN platform, Indosat can transform its network into a multi-purpose computing grid that uses the synergies of AI-accelerated computing. With our AI-powered products, we help Indosat augment RAN capabilities for enhanced performance, operational efficiency, advanced automation and optimised energy efficiency.”

Ronnie Vasishta, SVP Telecoms at NVIDIA said: “The combination of Indosat’s vision for a nationwide AI grid and NVIDIA AI expertise and full-stack software and hardware platform will catalyse AI adoption and innovation across Indonesia, creating a new playbook for telecom operators worldwide.”