Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (Indosat or IOH) has announced an initiative to deploy AI-RAN (Artificial Intelligence Radio Access Network) infrastructure across Indonesia in collaboration with Nokia and NVIDIA.
By integrating Nokia’s 5G Cloud RAN solution with the NVIDIA AI Aerial platform, Indosat is creating a unified accelerated computing infrastructure capable of hosting both AI and RAN workloads. This initiative establishes Indosat as the first operator in Southeast Asia and the third globally to implement a commercial AI-RAN network.
Indosat, Nokia and NVIDIA will develop, test, and deploy AI-RAN solutions, beginning with AI inferencing workloads on NVIDIA AI Aerial, followed by the integration of RAN workloads on the same platform. This phased approach ensures a seamless transition to AI-optimized network operations. Indosat aims to use AI for real-time network optimization, spectral efficiency, and energy consumption improvements.
Indosat, Nokia, and NVIDIA will collaborate with top Indonesian universities and research institutions to advance AI-RAN development. This engagement will support academic initiatives focused on AI applications in telecommunications while offering hands-on opportunities for students and researchers to contribute to the evolution of AI-powered networks.
By leveraging AI-RAN, Indosat is set to revolutionize its network capabilities and business model. The deployment allows for cost-sharing across multiple applications, maximizing return on investment while enabling new revenue streams through AI-driven services.
Indosat, as part of national AI strategy, has established a Sovereign AI Factory to empower enterprises, startups, and government agencies in developing localized AI applications in sectors such as healthcare, education, and agriculture.
With the new AI-RAN infrastructure, Indosat will cater to AI inferencing needs and enhance Indonesia’s AI ecosystem, leveraging NVIDIA AI Enterprise software and serverless APIs to optimize AI workloads and streamline their distribution across central and distributed infrastructure.
Indosat’s AI-RAN solution will bring AI capabilities to every application, ensuring seamless scalability. By working with NVIDIA to develop serverless API capabilities, Indosat will enable AI application partners such as Hippocratic.ai, Personal.ai, GoTo, and Accenture to utilize distributed inference engines, providing AI tokens at scale and delivering a more consistent user experience.
The deployment will follow a phased approach, starting with the establishment of a 5G AI-RAN lab in Surabaya in early 2025 for joint development, testing, and validation. A small-scale commercial pilot of AI inferencing workloads on NVIDIA AI-RAN infrastructure is scheduled for the second half of 2025, with broader deployment planned for 2026.
Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, said Nokia’s 5G Cloud RAN platform will transform Indosat’s network into a multi-purpose computing grid that enhances performance, automation, and energy efficiency.
Ronnie Vasishta, SVP Telecoms at NVIDIA, said Indosat’s AI vision and NVIDIA’s AI platform are catalysts for AI adoption and innovation across Indonesia.
Indosat CEO Vikram Sinha said this deployment marks a significant leap forward in integrating AI with telecom infrastructure, positioning Indosat as a key player in shaping the future of AI-driven connectivity.
TelecomLead.com News Desk
