At MWC Barcelona 2025, Red Hat made a bold statement about the future of telecommunications. Unveiling a series of strategic partnerships focused on embedding AI capabilities directly into network infrastructure.
The company announced new collaborations with SoftBank, Fujitsu, Rakuten Mobile, KDDI, and Orange. While reinforcing its commitment to supporting the telecom industry’s shift towards AI-driven, cloud-native networks.
Hanen Garcia, Red Hat’s Global Telco Solutions Manager, shared insights into the company’s evolving approach:
“Since we began working with telcos, we’ve understood the value of building strong partnerships within the ecosystem. Over the past year, we’ve expanded that ecosystem with key players to tackle the next wave of network challenges.”
At the center of Red Hat’s strategy is AI integration — a move set to optimize everything from power consumption to radio access network (RAN) management.
Powering AI-Driven Network Evolution: Key Partnerships
Red Hat revealed several high-impact collaborations designed to bring AI deeper into telco operations:
- SoftBank: Deploying AI-driven power optimization solutions to improve energy efficiency across telecom networks.
- Fujitsu: Advancing virtualized radio access network (vRAN) solutions on Red Hat OpenShift, with built-in AI capabilities for smarter network management.
- Rakuten Mobile: Enhancing Open RAN architectures and expanding cloud-native infrastructure.
- KDDI: Minimizing downtime and accelerating software deployment with Open RAN.
- Orange: Driving telco cloud transformation to enable scalable AI-driven operations.
“Our work with partners like Ericsson, Nokia, and now these new collaborations reflects the constant evolution of the telco ecosystem,” Hanen added. “We’re positioning ourselves — and our partners — to help customers tackle both current challenges and the next wave of technological shifts.”
Red Hat’s AI strategy extends beyond software. The company is collaborating with hardware giants like Intel, Arm, and Nvidia, whose advanced processors are crucial for supporting machine learning workloads in telecom environments.
“Integrating AI into the platform is the next logical step,” Hanen explained. “We’re creating a consistent environment where customers can manage their networks and apply AI-driven capabilities seamlessly.”
From predictive analytics in RAN to real-time optimization of network operations, these developments represent a practical leap toward AI-powered telecom infrastructure.
Red Hat also reinforced its role in guiding telcos through the ongoing transition from network function virtualization (NFV) to cloud-native platforms — a critical move as the industry readies itself for 5G Advanced.
“We’ve supported customers from the early days of virtualization. Now, we’re helping them navigate this next phase — cloud-native evolution,” Hanen shared. “This includes not just our platform expertise but also close collaboration with hardware partners to deliver fully optimized solutions.”
Open source remains a cornerstone of Red Hat’s strategy. By working closely with open communities, the company ensures that new AI innovations are rapidly integrated into its platform — offering customers access to cutting-edge technologies.
“The move from 4G to 5G is well underway, and 5G Advanced is on the horizon,” Hanen said. “We’re already exploring the capabilities our platform needs to support these advancements, and open source is key to that.”
Demonstrating AI’s Impact on Network Operations
At MWC 2025, Red Hat showcased live demonstrations of how AI improves platform lifecycle management and network operations. These included examples of AI optimizing RAN management and streamlining the operational lifecycle of cloud platforms.
“What excites me most is showing how our customers can use AI not just to run their networks — but to truly improve them,” Hanen shared.
