Nokia Licenses HPE RIC to Advance AI Network Automation

Nokia has signed a global licensing agreement with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to integrate HPE's RAN Intelligent Controller into its MantaRay AI-Powered Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) platform, enhancing its AI-driven RAN automation and autonomous networking capabilities. This deal includes the transfer of most of HPE's related development team to Nokia Mobile Networks, aiming to help operators efficiently manage multi-vendor networks and prepare for the transition from 5G to 6G. Nokia's MantaRay SMO is already compliant with Open RAN standards, supports open interfaces, and has achieved level four on TM Forum's autonomous networking scale, positioning it as a leading zero-touch automation solution. Nokia's President of Mobile Networks, Tommi Uitto, emphasized that this partnership will broaden the portfolio and benefit customers worldwide by improving automation, orchestration, and open ecosystems. The move aligns with Nokia's broader strategy to scale AI and cloud infrastructure partnerships to meet growing demands for high-performance computing and generative AI. HPE's stable financial outlook and expertise in enterprise hardware and software solutions underpin the strategic value of this collaboration.