Nokia opens Mobile Core Early Access to telco and enterprise market

Nokia has opened its Mobile Core Early Access programme to the global telecommunications market, following a controlled pilot with 30 organisations that began in June. The initiative gives operators and enterprises hands-on access to a live, hosted environment running Nokia's latest mobile core software, including 5G Core network functions, cloud-native operational workflows and network exposure interfaces.

The programme is positioned by Nokia as a way to compress evaluation timelines: rather than relying on vendor presentations or paper architectures, participants can interact with the environment directly and assess deployment requirements before committing capital. A paid tier is available for organisations needing deeper integration with their own test infrastructure or extended access beyond the standard offering.

The programme

Kal De, Senior Vice President for Core Networks at Nokia, said the initiative was created because "operators need more than presentations and demonstrations to make confident technology choices." The live environment includes radio and device components alongside core network functions, which Nokia says distinguishes it from typical sandbox or simulation tools that isolate the core from the radio access network.

Roberto Kompany, Principal Analyst for Mobile Infrastructure at Omdia, described the programme as addressing "a longstanding challenge for operators and enterprises: gaining practical exposure to emerging core network capabilities before making deployment decisions." Kompany noted that the regularly updated environment covers 5G Core, automation, analytics and network exposure use cases, and said the initiative could improve customer confidence in future network investments as the industry moves toward AI-native core architectures.

Nokia did not disclose commercial terms for the paid tier, the full list of pilot participants, or specific benchmark results from the June cohort.

Market context

The launch reflects a broader competitive dynamic in the mobile core market, where Nokia faces established rivals including Ericsson, Huawei and a growing roster of cloud-native entrants such as Mavenir and Druid Software. Operators evaluating 5G Core modernisation must navigate complex trade-offs between vendor lock-in, cloud deployment models and integration with existing radio access infrastructure, and the evaluation phase can extend procurement cycles considerably.

The framing around AI-era networks is consistent with a wider industry shift: the 3GPP Release 18 and Release 19 standards cycles have introduced native AI and machine learning hooks into the core specification, and operators in Europe and Asia-Pacific are actively trialling AI-driven network automation. Lowering the friction of technology assessment is therefore a commercially rational move for Nokia, as procurement decisions are increasingly shaped by proof-of-concept experience rather than feature lists alone.

From a regulatory standpoint, European operators face heightened scrutiny under NIS2 and DORA regarding the resilience of critical network infrastructure, which adds to the due-diligence burden before any core network upgrade. Tools that allow earlier, lower-risk evaluation of new capabilities align with the compliance expectations regulators are placing on operators managing systemically important networks.

Nokia said registration is now open to all telecommunications providers and enterprises globally, with no stated cap on participant numbers in the open phase.