TL;DR

With partners NVIDIA and Nokia, BT is preparing to test AI-RAN, short for AI-powered radio access network, on EE’s live mobile network. The first sites are planned for Birmingham in 2027. Separately, O2 and Nokia say a live AI-RAN feature at London Paddington is a UK first, as Mobile Europe reported on 27 October.

BT’s plan

The radio access network is the part of a mobile network that links phones to masts. AI-RAN builds AI into how that network processes signals, so it can tune the radio signal as conditions change and decide how capacity is shared, especially in crowded places or when demand jumps.

The trial pairs Nokia’s 5G software with NVIDIA hardware, the Aerial RAN Computer. The aim is to see whether gains measured in the lab survive real customer traffic: Nokia’s own platform tests showed spectral efficiency rising by over 20%. BT will measure reliability, capacity and spectral efficiency, meaning how much traffic a given slice of spectrum can carry.

“Lab work has shown the potential of AI-RAN to improve how mobile networks perform, but the next important step is to understand how that translates into a live environment,” said Reza Rahnama, BT’s managing director for mobile networks.

In a separate project with TCS and NVIDIA, BT is exploring AI agents that check photos taken during site visits to confirm equipment has been installed correctly, which could cut repeat visits.

O2 is already reporting numbers

O2’s trial ran at its Giga Site at London Paddington while customers used the network as normal. Nokia’s software watched traffic and adjusted how capacity was allocated, and the trial showed a 20% gain in spectral efficiency, with faster peak-time data and no loss of reliability. O2 runs the work under a £700 million network programme it calls the Mobile Transformation Plan.

Looking Forward

BT and O2 are both now moving AI from lab tests into the radio layer of live networks. In our view, the appeal is economic as much as technical: if AI lets operators carry more traffic on spectrum they already hold, it eases pressure to build more masts in busy areas. BT’s Birmingham sites, due in 2027, will be the first chance to compare its results with O2’s.