Month: July 2025
Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison and Nokia use AI to reduce energy demand and emissions
Indonesian network operator Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison has deployed Nokia Energy Efficiency (part of the company’s Autonomous Networks portfolio – described below) to reduce energy demand and carbon dioxide emissions across its RAN network using AI. Nokia’s energy control system uses AI and machine learning algorithms to analyze real-time traffic patterns, and will enable the operator to adjust or shut idle and unused radio equipment automatically during low network demand periods.
The multi-vendor, AI-driven energy management solution can reduce energy costs and carbon footprint with no negative impact on network performance or customer experience. It can be rolled out in a matter of weeks.
Indosat is aiming to transform itself from a conventional telecom operator into an AI TechCo—powered by intelligent technologies, cloud-based platforms, and a commitment to sustainability. By embedding automation and intelligence into network operations, Indosat is unlocking new levels of efficiency, agility, and environmental responsibility across its infrastructure.
Earlier this year Indosat claimed to be the first operator to deploy AI-RAN in Indonesia, in a deal involving the integration of Nokia’s 5G cloud RAN solution with Nvidia’s Aerial platform. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the three firms included the development, testing, and deployment of AI-RAN, with an initial focus on transferring AI inferencing workloads on the AI Aerial, then the integration of RAN workloads on the same platform.
“As data consumption continues to grow, so does our responsibility to manage resources wisely. This collaboration reflects Indosat’s unwavering commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainable innovation, using AI to not only optimize performance, but also reduce emissions and energy use across our network.” said Desmond Cheung, Director and Chief Technology Officer at Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison.
Indosat was the first operator in Southeast Asia to achieve ISO 50001 certification for energy management—underscoring its pledge to minimize environmental impact through operational excellence. The collaboration with Nokia builds upon a successful pilot project, in which the AI-powered solution demonstrated its ability to reduce energy consumption in live network conditions.
Following the pilot project, Nokia deployed its Energy Efficiency solution to the entire Nokia RAN footprint within Indonesia, e.g. Sumatra, Kalimantan, Central and East Java.
“We are very pleased to be helping Indosat deliver on its commitments to sustainability and environmental responsibility, establishing its position both locally and internationally. Nokia Energy Efficiency reflects the important R&D investments that Nokia continues to make to help our customers optimize energy savings and network performance simultaneously,” said Henrique Vale, VP for Cloud and Network Services APAC at Nokia.
Nokia’s Autonomous Networks portfolio, including its Autonomous Networks Fabric solution, utilizes Agentic AI to deliver advanced security, analytics, and operations capabilities that provide operators with a holistic, real-time view of the network so they can reduce costs, accelerate time-to-value, and deliver the best customer experience.
Autonomous Networks Fabric is a unifying intelligence layer that weaves together observability, analytics, security, and automation across every network domain; allowing a network to behave as one adaptive system, regardless of vendor, architecture, or deployment model.
References:
Upcoming IEEE Region 6 Events and IEEE Funding Opportunities
Backgrounder:
IEEE Region 6 is one of the ten geographical regions of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and covers the Western United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, and all states in between. It spans a vast area, from the Pacific coast to the Rocky Mountains and includes states like California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Montana, and more. Within Region 6, there are 35 Sections and 2 sub-sections, organized into 5 Areas: Central, Northeast, Northwest, Southern, and Southwest. The region also has a strong volunteer base and offers various activities, including conferences, workshops, and awards programs, to its members.
IEEE Region 6 Director Joseph Wei (photo below) a very good friend of this author, has requested bi-monthly posting of Region 6 events that might be of interest to IEEE Techblog readers.
Please contact Joseph Wei at [email protected] for volunteer opportunities in IEEE Region 6.
Upcoming Region 6 Events:
Forecasting and Planning for Grid Evolution with LoadSEER: A Spatial Approach to Electric Expansion and Risk | Seattle Section Chapter, Date: 15 July 2025 Event Format: Virtual. Register at https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/489844
Abstract: As distribution systems grow more complex due to electrification, distributed energy resources (DERs), and climate-driven volatility, utilities need advanced tools to plan effectively at the local level. LoadSEER — Spatial Electric Expansion and Risk — is a powerful spatial analytics platform developed by Integral Analytics to support long-term electric system planning under uncertainty. This presentation will explore how LoadSEER enables utilities to model localized growth, assess risk, and test investment strategies under a wide range of future scenarios. With capabilities including circuit-level forecasting, geospatial scenario analysis, and integrated risk scoring, LoadSEER helps planners prioritize infrastructure upgrades, integrate DERs, and align with regulatory and decarbonization goals. The session will include use cases and lessons learned from utilities deploying LoadSEER to improve capital efficiency, system resilience, and planning transparency in rapidly changing environments.
Agentic AI themed 4th International Conference on Applied Data Science (ICADS) 2025 | Santa Clara Valley (SCV) Section, Date: 17 July 2025 Event Format: Virtual. Register at https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/487442
Abstract – In this talk, Kamer Ali Yuksel (Head of Agentic AI @ aiXplain) describes how LLM-driven agents are transforming autonomy across research, enterprise, and design. He shows that today’s agents aren’t just “smart autocomplete” but self-directed ideators, experimenters, analysts, and creators. Drawing on his recent publications, he argues that AI agents already deliver end-to-end autonomy: how aiXplain autonomously refine Agentic AI workflows via continuous LLM-driven feedback loops, ideate and implement enterprise Agentic AI use-cases, and derive actionable business insights from enterprise data—producing executive-ready reports without human intervention.
Brew with the Crew: Representation & Impact of Hydrological Conditions of Power System Planning and Operations | Eastern Idaho Section Date: 17 July 2025 Event Format: Virtual. Register at https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/489811
Abstract: As inverter-based resources grow and synchronous generators retire, the grid loses not only inertia but also essential ancillary services. Hydropower can help fill this gap, but accurate planning requires utilities to understand and model its capabilities. Currently, gaps exist in how hydropower plants are represented—many units lack modeled frequency response or omit governor data, and hydrological constraints are often excluded. This talk highlights efforts to address two key gaps: (a) incorporating hydrological data, and (b) accurately modeling response capabilities in steady-state and dynamic simulations. The impact of these improvements on system planning and reliability will be discussed, with contributions from PNNL and V&R Energy.
Technologies for a Circular Economy Webinar Series | IEEE SusTech and IEEE Future Directions. This webinar series follows the successful workshop on the same topic at the IEEE SusTech 2025 conference in Santa Ana, CA. Date: 17 July 2025 Event Format: Virtual. Register at https://sustech.ieee.org/circular-economy/webinar-series
IEEE Milestone dedication at the Intel Jones Farm Conference Center |IEEE Region 6 Milestones -Dedication and Unveiling of the IEEE Milestones for the Universal Serial Bus (USB), 1996 on July 30th. Date: 30 July 2025 (12:30pm check-in in the JFCC lobby, main program from 1:30pm – 3pm). Event Format: in-person at 2111 NE 25th Avenue, Hillsboro, Oregon, Building: Jones Farm Conference Center. Register at https://events.vtools.ieee.org/event/register/491146
IEEE at SeattleCon: Digital Preservation and Biomedical Technologies | Seattle Section Date: 13 – 17 August 2025. Event Format: In-person. Register at https://seattlein2025.org/
More IEEE Region 6 events can be found at https://events.vtools.ieee.org/events/search/advanced
IEEE SCV events are listed at https://egrid.ieeesfbac.org/
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IEEE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
IEEE New Initiatives Program:
The New Initiatives Program is designed to support potential new IEEE programs, products, or services that will provide significant benefit to IEEE members, the public, the technical community, and customers, or which could have lasting impact on the IEEE or its business processes. Initiatives must be of strategic importance to IEEE.
Details on specific procedures for the submission are at https://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/initiatives
IEEE Future Directions:
The IEEE Future Directions Committee (FDC) seeks to identify, develop, and promote projects that are value-added for IEEE and its members, bringing together multiple Societies and Councils to provide broad and deep perspectives on a particular topic, application, or technology. These projects range from short term activities to reach a specific goal to Future Directions Initiatives seeking longer-term cross-collaborative engagement among industry, academia, and government striving to develop and deploy
various future technologies.
Details information can be found at https://cmte.ieee.org/futuredirections/projects/
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Again, please contact Joseph Wei at [email protected] for volunteer opportunities in IEEE Region 6.
References:
IEEE SCV March 28th Event: A Conversation with IEEE President and IEEE Region 6 Director Elect
IEEE President’s Priorities and Strategic Direction for 2024
IEEE President Elect: IEEE Overview, 2024 Priorities and Strategic Plan
Nokia’s Bell Labs to use adapted 4G and 5G access technologies for Indian space missions
Nokia’s Bell Labs is receptive to collaborating with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), government agencies, and private players in India’s space sector to support future lunar missions with 4G, 5G and other advanced wireless networking technologies. Thierry Klein, President of Bell Labs Solutions Research, visited India in late June to explore potential partnerships and deepen engagement with the country’s growing space ecosystem. In an interview with Moneycontrol, Klein said India’s space ambitions present a compelling opportunity for collaboration.
“We are in a lot of conversations globally, working with government agencies and private companies to see how we can support their missions from a communications perspective. This is really the reason why I came to India—because it is a great opportunity for me to learn more about the space ecosystem and build relations and explore collaboration opportunities with the Indian space sector,” Klein said. He emphasized that while these space networks make use of existing 3GPP 4G and 5G cellular specifications, they must be drastically reengineered to withstand extreme temperatures, mechanical stress, radiation, and power constraints.
With India opening its space sector to private participation and international collaboration, Nokia’s proposed engagement could bring advanced telecom capabilities to future Indian lunar missions. Klein affirmed the company’s openness to working with both public and private entities in India to advance lunar and deep space communications.
India plans to launch the Chandrayaan-4 mission in 2027, aiming to bring back samples of moon rocks to Earth. Chandrayaan-4 will involve at least two separate launches of the heavy-lift LVM-3 rocket, which will carry five different components of the mission that will be assembled in orbit.
Asked if Nokia Bell Labs is engaging with ISRO, which is the primary agency in India for space exploration and research, Klein said, “Yeah, we definitely want to engage with them [ISRO]. I met people from both the government and private companies. They are very interested in continuing the conversations on both sides, the private sector as well as the public sector. I have had lots of conversations and lots of interest in exploring working together.”
Nokia Bell Labs has been developing cutting-edge communication systems for future lunar missions, with the aim of supporting the growing global interest from governments, such as India, and private space enterprises in establishing a permanent presence on the Moon and, eventually, Mars.
“Unlike the Apollo era, which relied on basic voice and low-resolution imagery, future lunar missions will demand high-definition video, data-rich applications, and low-latency networks to support scientific research, mining, transportation, and habitation on the Moon,” said Klein.
To meet those demands, Bell Labs is adapting commercial-grade 4G and 5G cellular technologies, currently used globally on Earth, for use in space. The first real-world test of this technology was conducted during the Intuitive Machines IM-2 mission, which landed on the moon on March 6, 2024, and successfully demonstrated a functioning 4G LTE network on the lunar surface.
“So that’s been our vision for seven or eight years, and that’s what we’ve really done with the Intuitive Machines 2 mission…We built the first cellular network and wanted to prove that we could do this. It was a technology demonstration to show that we can take something based on the networks we use on Earth, make all the necessary adaptations I mentioned, deploy the network, operate it successfully, and prove that cellular technology is a viable solution for space operations,” Klein said.
Klein said Bell Labs envisions the Moon’s communication infrastructure developing similarly to Earth’s surface networks, supporting permanent lunar bases, while satellites in lunar orbit provide 5G-based backhaul or coverage for remote regions. “We think of 5G as both providing surface capabilities as well as orbit-to-surface capabilities,” he said, likening it to non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) on Earth.
The company initially opted for 4G due to its maturity at the time the project began in 2020. Looking ahead, the migration to 5G is on the horizon, likely coinciding with the shift to 6G on Earth in 2030. “We would expect that we have 5G on the lunar surface by 2030,” Klein said, explaining that staying one generation behind Earth networks allows lunar missions to benefit from economies of scale, mature ecosystems, and deployment experience.
Nokia and Intuitive Machines successfully delivered a 4G LTE network to the Moon. However, a planned wireless call couldn’t be made because the Athena lander tipped over, limiting its ability to recharge. Still, Nokia’s Lunar Surface Communications System (LSCS), including its base station, radio, and core, ran flawlessly during the 25-minute power window.
Klein also revealed that Nokia is working with Axiom Space to integrate 4G LTE into next-generation space suits, which are slated for NASA’s Artemis III mission in 2027. Nokia continues to engage with governments and commercial partners globally. “Everybody realizes there is a need for communication. We are really open to working with anybody that we could support,” Klein said.
References:
5G connectivity from space: Exolaunch contract with Sateliot for launch and deployment of LEO satellites
AST SpaceMobile: “5G” Connectivity from Space to Everyday Smartphones
U.S. military sees great potential in space based 5G (which has yet to be standardized)
China’s answer to Starlink: GalaxySpace planning to launch 1,000 LEO satellites & deliver 5G from space?
Samsung announces 5G NTN modem technology for Exynos chip set; Omnispace and Ligado Networks MoU
Telecoms.com’s survey: 5G NTNs to highlight service reliability and network redundancy
Telecoms.com survey results, presented in the report Private networks and NTNs: Transcending the boundaries of 5G, highlight the reinforcement of service reliability and additional layer of network redundancy as the most frequently selected impact of the convergence of 5G and Non Terrestrial Networks (NTN)s, according to nearly half of respondents. Engineers and developers are the biggest proponents of this impact with more than three in five respondents highlighting its value from a technical perspective. The extra network redundancy is backup connectivity from NTNs to existing 5G networks (e,g, dye to a cell tower failure or massive power outage) and the ability to ensure continued service whether in times of crisis or otherwise.
Meanwhile, two in five C-Suite executives think it’s either too early to determine the benefits or that NTNs will only achieve a minimal impact on 5G performance, hinting that they may need more convincing to achieve full buy-in.
‘Deployment costs’ are identified as the top concern when converging NTNs with 5G for many organisations in telecoms and particularly so for CSPs, while ‘cost of infrastructure’ is the most frequently selected key challenge slowing down the large-scale adoption of private 5G.
The cost barrier is neither new nor surprising for these topics, or for many other telecom topics being surveyed, but what this is compounded with now is a global economy that hasn’t been stable for some time, whether due to the global pandemic, or the ever-growing number of wars around the world.
On private 5G, the report also highlights several 5G standalone features that are considered most important to enterprises. Here, network responsiveness (low latency, handover time, and ultra-low data rates) is flagged as the top feature closely followed by network slicing in radio (that is, reserving capacity for specific applications).
The report argues that “while these results shed light on key technical capabilities that telecom professionals consider to be critical for the use of enterprises in a private 5G environment, it is also important to note that focusing on business outcomes and use cases versus technical capabilities is likely more meaningful in discussions with enterprises.”
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3GPP introduced NTN into its Release 17, which provided an initial framework and Release 18 which included enhancements. 3GPP continues to work on NTN in Release 19 and beyond, focusing on aspects like onboard satellite processing, Ku-band frequencies, and integration with terrestrial networks.
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Release 17: This release introduced the initial framework for 5G NTN, including support for NB-IoT and 5G NR NTN.
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Release 18: This release focused on performance enhancements and additional frequency bands for 5G NTN.
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Release 19 and beyond: Future releases, including 19, will continue to build on the NTN standard, with plans to enhance onboard satellite processing, expand to Ku-band frequencies for 5G NTN, and improve the integration between terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks.
3GPP looks forward to the continuous collaboration with ITU-R WP 4B for the finalization of Recommendation ITU-R M.[IMT-2020-SAT.SPECS], which will be the official standard for 5G satellite to ground communications.
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References:
https://tc-resources.telecoms.com/free/w_defa8859/
https://www.3gpp.org/technologies/ntn-overview
ITU-R recommendation IMT-2020-SAT.SPECS from ITU-R WP 5B to be based on 3GPP 5G NR-NTN and IoT-NTN (from Release 17 & 18)
Standards are the key requirement for telco/satellite integration: D2D and satellite-based mobile backhaul
5G connectivity from space: Exolaunch contract with Sateliot for launch and deployment of LEO satellites
Momentum builds for wireless telco- satellite operator engagements
Samsung announces 5G NTN modem technology for Exynos chip set; Omnispace and Ligado Networks MoU
Téral Research: 5G SA core network deployments accelerate after a very slow start
5G deployments started with the non-standalone (NSA) mode (using a 4G core network) and are now gradually migrating to Stand Alone (SA) core network to unleash a plethora of use cases. 5G SA offers improved latency and bandwidth, enabling advanced services and applications. 5G SA goes far beyond mobile and will eventually become the network that bridges all networks together, with the new sophisticated service-based architecture (5G SBA) designed by the 3GPP. Although many of the network functions (NFs) featured in the 5G SBA come from existing ones currently active in 2G/3G and 4G networks, novel functions such as the network slice selection function (NSSF) are being introduced.
After a very slow start during the past five years, Téral Research [1.] says the migration to 5G SA has increased. Of the total 354 commercially available 5G public networks reported at the end of 1Q25, 74 are 5G SA – up from 49 one year ago.
Note 1. Based on a communications service provider (CSP) survey and discussions with many vendors, Téral Research’s 5G SA report analyzes several of the 5G Core SBA functions and provides global and regional market sizes and forecasts by focusing on the NFs implemented by CSPs (e.g., UDM, UDR, AUSF, NRF, NEF and NSSF, PCF, BSF, CHF) to enable use cases beyond enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), fixed wireless access (FWA), and private 5G.
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2024 had the highest number of 5G SA commercial launches: 21 networks went live to offer commercial 5G SA services last year. The success of FWA services, the introduction of smartphone plans enabled by the increasing number of available 5G SA devices, and the rise of VoNR drove this SA migration.
Key findings include:
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Network slicing is taking off for various services, including for military use cases.
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The single vendor approach remains predominant for each domain.
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67% of 5G SA core deployment are cloud-based but due to data sovereignty concerns,
CSPs favor private cloud infrastructures.
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The global 2024 market for 5G SA Core + SDM + Policy & Charging grew 12% YoY and hit $3.8B, slightly below our forecast.
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Sustained by its domestic market, Huawei leads global 2024 sales for 5G SA Core + SDM + Policy & Charging, followed by Ericsson and Nokia, respectively. However, Nokia leads the global commercial 5G SA footprint. ZTE comes in fourth place for global total sales and second for 5G SA core sales behind Huawei.
In the meantime, technical challenges related to 5G network architecture complexity, 3GPP methods for exchanging information across 4G vs. 5G, policy orchestration and enforcement, real-time analytics and insights and data analytics are still lingering but being solved.
Built on a solid CSP pipeline of 559 cellular networks in the world that have yet to be migrated to 5G SA, Téral’s model produced a forecast that shows the global 5G SA Core/5G Data Management/5G Policy market to cross the $4B bar by year-end, which is 20% YoY growth. Last year’s downward revision put our forecast on track and therefore we have not made any significant change in this forecast update.
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Editor’s Note: In 2025, about a dozen more mobile network operators (MNOs) are expected to deploy 5G Standalone (SA) networks, according to Fierce Network and Moniem-Tech. This will include some major CSPs like AT&T and Verizon, who have previously deployed 5G SA on a limited basis. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
In the long run, Teral foresees a significant ramp up in CSPs’ migration to 5G SA that adds to the ongoing activity continuously fueled by the emergence of new use cases going beyond eMBB, FWA, and private 5G. Therefore, Téral expects the market to grow at a 2025-2030 CAGR of 11%. Asia Pacific will remain the largest market throughout the forecast period and 5G SA core the most important domain to start with, followed by 5G Data Management.
Finally, the disaggregated multi-domain nature of 5G core SBA brings a broad range of contenders that include the traditional telecom network equipment vendors, a few mobile core specialists, a handful of subscriber data management (SDM) specialists, a truck load of policy and charging rules function (PCRF) players, the OSS/BSS providers and the system integrators and providers of IT services.
References:
Téral Research :: June 2025 5G SA Core, SDM and Policy
Ookla: Europe severely lagging in 5G SA deployments and performance
Vision of 5G SA core on public cloud fails; replaced by private or hybrid cloud?
GSA: More 5G SA devices, but commercial 5G SA deployments lag
Building and Operating a Cloud Native 5G SA Core Network
Latest Ericsson Mobility Report talks up 5G SA networks and FWA
Global 5G Market Snapshot; Dell’Oro and GSA Updates on 5G SA networks and devices
Dell’Oro: Mobile Core Network market has lowest growth rate since 4Q 2017
5G SA networks (real 5G) remain conspicuous by their absence
