Nokia

A planned 100% spectrum-efficiency gain by 2028 anchors Nokia’s shift from its mobile-era legacy toward AI-driven network infrastructure with Nvidia.

Who they are

Nokia appears in the coverage as a Finnish telecom and technology company whose role has moved well beyond its former handset identity. Earlier stories track the sale of its HERE mapping business, patent conflict with Apple, and the licensing of its brand and IP to HMD Global for Android devices; recent reporting instead places Nokia in cloud, data-center, optical-network, and radio-access infrastructure efforts.

The recent arc

Coverage reached its recent high point in 2025Q1, initially through Microsoft’s decision to shut down Skype, a service tied to the legacy Nokia phone narrative. The story then shifts decisively in late 2025 and 2026 toward AI infrastructure: Nokia backed defense-AI startup NestAI, appeared among investors in Nscale’s financing, and was reported to be expanding into cloud services, data centers, and optical networks in a Financial Times account of its AI-era reinvention.

The current phase centers on AI radio networks and 6G. Nvidia’s March 2026 partnerships with Cisco, Nokia, and other telecom leaders framed an open, software-defined AI-RAN architecture; Bloomberg then reported in July that Nokia plans to sell an AI-driven RAN platform developed with Nvidia to operators by 2027, targeting a 100% spectrum-efficiency increase by 2028.

The tension

The coverage circles a race to define the next telecom infrastructure stack: Nokia is aligning with Nvidia and Cisco around open AI-RAN and 6G while operating alongside longtime peer Ericsson and against a broader competitive backdrop that includes Huawei. The report that China is imposing lengthy security reviews on European suppliers Nokia and Ericsson adds a market-access pressure to an already strategic contest over network technology.

Why it matters

If Nokia can translate its Nvidia-linked platform work and broader cloud, optical, and data-center expansion into operator deployments, its coverage could increasingly be driven by the AI buildout rather than handset nostalgia. That outcome remains contingent on adoption of open AI-RAN architectures, delivery of the stated efficiency targets, and the geopolitical constraints facing telecom equipment suppliers.

Related: Ericsson · Huawei · HMD Global · Microsoft · Nokia sells HERE mapping business to Audi, BMW, and Mercedes for $3.07