Launch Catch-Up — Milestone Reported October 21, 2026
NVIDIA said T-Mobile completed an AI-enabled radio access network call on its commercial network in Bellevue, Washington, using computing hardware from NVIDIA and network software from Nokia.
The company described it as the first AI-RAN call on a commercial network. That characterization comes from the participating supplier’s October 21 announcement; the release did not give the call’s exact date.
The test used NVIDIA Aerial RAN Computer servers, Nokia’s accelerated radio software, an existing standalone 5G core and a commercial smartphone, according to NVIDIA.
The broader approach puts radio-network processing and other AI workloads on shared computing infrastructure. A completed call demonstrates a milestone, rather than a nationwide service rollout or established benefits for every subscriber.
NVIDIA also outlined European work: BT planned live trials in Birmingham in 2027, while Deutsche Telekom planned field trials after laboratory validation. Elisa had tested voice, mobile data and video analytics together in a 5G field environment.
Sources: NVIDIA’s October 21 announcement: https://investor.nvidia.com/news/press-release-details/2026/NVIDIA-Nokia-and-Leading-Telecom-Operators-Turn-Networks-Into-Distributed-Intelligence-Platforms/default.aspx