Optus and Ericsson Report Live 5G Gains from AI-RAN Trials

The useful part

Optus says field trials with Ericsson are improving radio performance in Australia. AI can help operators improve today's networks without replacing major hardware. These include dynamic link adaptation, coverage prediction, and automated coverage compensation.

How it works

• Users may see steadier calls, faster downloads, and fewer handover failures.
• Even if one POC is successful with a specific vendor platform, it does not automatically scale across the whole network.
• Technologies that work well in one environment may not work the same way in another." That warning points to the next industry task.
• The work focuses on practical network gains, not distant promises.
• That matters for operators watching capital budgets closely.

What to take from it

Which is different to what you do currently with ML algorithms – because, with AI, you adjust the antenna gains as well as modulation techniques. For now, AI in the RAN looks most valuable when it solves current problems. Better coverage, cleaner handovers, and smarter capacity use are immediate targets.

Example or evidence

• Better spectral efficiency lets operators carry more traffic over the same assets.
• Optus described AI agents that adjust antenna settings during site outages.
• Dr Dongwook Kim, director of the 6G tech team at SK Telecom, said: "Every partner has a different hardware architecture, and a different approach for AI RAN implementation.
• Groups such as the AI-RAN Alliance may help align use cases and validation.

Details worth keeping

Ericsson's software runs on existing 5G basebands and radios. Optus highlighted three active areas during the Intelligent RAN Forum. In plain terms, the network learns how to adjust connections in real time.

Related coverage

• Rcrwireless: From Intelligent RAN Forum: AI-RAN is becoming less futuristic and more practical, with Optus reporting live-network gains in link adaptation, coverage prediction and compensation.
• Voip: Ericsson is bringing AI-RAN into live 5G networks, promising smarter coverage, lower latency, better capacity, and improved energy efficiency.
• Rcrwireless: Orange is preparing to test Nokia's AI-RAN platform in its live network, putting claimed radio-efficiency gains to the commercial test while exploring the bigger proposition of shared compute for AI…
• Voip: Rakuten Mobile is scaling AI-driven Open RAN to improve VoIP performance, 5G efficiency, and network automation across Japan.