Nokia teams up with Orange and RUCKUS to build AI-powered 5G and Wi-Fi 7 networks as stock price surges 155% in 5 years

Nokia announced two partnerships: with Orange to co-develop AI-powered 5G radio access network technology using Nokia's anyRAN software and NVIDIA infrastructure, and with RUCKUS Networks to provide early access to an integrated Wi-Fi 7 and fiber optic LAN solution for enterprise use. Nokia reported €4,497 million in Q1 2026 sales and €1 billion in new AI-related orders.

These alliances target a shift toward higher-bandwidth, software-heavy networks (meaning networks controlled by AI software rather than fixed hardware settings) that telecom carriers and large companies need to handle growing data demands from cloud computing and AI services.

For investors, the question is whether Nokia can use these partnerships to capture more business from cloud providers and carriers than competitors like Ericsson, Huawei, Cisco, and Juniper—and whether that translates into sustained revenue growth and higher profit margins. Nokia's stock has already risen 110.6% over the past year, so much of the AI growth story may already be priced in.

Watch Q2 2026 results (Nokia expects 5–9% quarter-on-quarter sales growth) and future announcements on customer adoption and deployment scale to assess whether these alliances are converting into real revenue.