Indosat, Nokia and Nvidia launch AI-RAN research centre in Indonesia

Details: Manny Pham; Category: Vendors; 13 November 2025; 12869 views

Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) has teamed up with Nokia and NVIDIA to open an AI-RAN Research Center in Surabaya, Indonesia, marking a major step toward building AI-native telecom networks in the country.

The US$70 million facility - the first Nokia-NVIDIA AI-RAN collaboration site in Asia - will develop artificial intelligence-powered radio access networks and edge applications, aligning with Indonesia’s Golden Indonesia Vision 2045 to drive digital transformation and local AI talent development.

The centre will combine Nokia’s RAN expertise, NVIDIA’s accelerated computing platforms, and Indosat’s commercial network to create new AI-driven network capabilities. It will also connect to Indosat’s existing sovereign AI Factory, serving as a distributed computing hub to bring AI closer to users and improve performance, energy efficiency and scalability.

Indosat President Director and CEO Vikram Sinha said the project demonstrates how “connectivity meets compute to create intelligence—delivered at the edge, in a sovereign manner.” He added that the partnership would help unlock AI-powered use cases across education, agriculture and healthcare.

The centre also aims to nurture Indonesia’s next generation of AI and telecom specialists through hands-on research, mentorship and training, advancing the country’s ambition to become one of the world’s top five economies by 2045.

Nezar Patria, Indonesia’s Vice Minister of Communication and Digital Affairs, said the initiative “marks a concrete step in strengthening Indonesia’s digital sovereignty,” showing that the country is “not merely a user but also a creator of AI technology.”

Nokia’s Chief Technology and AI Officer, Pallavi Mahajan, said the collaboration “brings AI-powered intelligence into the hands of every Indonesian,” while NVIDIA’s Senior Vice President of Telecom, Ronnie Vasishta, described the AI Grid framework as a way to “make AI as ubiquitous as connectivity.”