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Can Nokia's Expanded One New Zealand Deal Accelerate Its AI Growth?

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Key Takeaways

  • NOK expands its deal with One New Zealand to accelerate the operator's shift toward autonomous networks.
  • Nokia's solutions enable faster decisions and help resolve network issues before they affect customers.
  • NOK's glass-box approach enhances network transparency, operational control and AI-driven flexibility.

Nokia Corporation (NOK - Free Report) is strengthening its footprint in the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven telecommunications market through an expanded partnership with One New Zealand to accelerate the operator's transition toward autonomous networks. The collaboration highlights Nokia's focus on advancing AI-native network operations and supporting the growing demand for intelligent, automated telecommunications infrastructure.

Per the agreement, Nokia will supply its Assurance Center and Autonomous Networks Data Suite to One New Zealand, along with research and development co-creation and consulting services. These solutions will establish a unified and trusted data foundation, enabling the operator to anticipate network conditions, make faster operational decisions and resolve potential issues before they affect customers. 

The company will also provide advanced network management capabilities through its glass-box approach, enabling One New Zealand to monitor network operations and understand automated decisions. The expanded deployment will offer greater flexibility to develop AI-driven applications, improve network automation and maintain control over data and operational systems.

The initiative aligns with Nokia's broader strategy to develop programmable, AI-native network infrastructure for the next generation of telecommunications services. As AI adoption increases and network operators seek greater efficiency, reliability and automation, the company is positioned to benefit from rising demand for autonomous network technologies and advanced network management solutions.

How Are Competitors Performing?

Nokia faces competition from Ericsson (ERIC - Free Report) and Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO - Free Report) . Ericsson continues to expand its AI capabilities by developing intelligent network solutions to improve connectivity, performance and energy efficiency. The company is integrating AI into its radio access networks to optimize operations and automate network management. Ericsson is working with VodafoneThree to deploy AI-powered 5G radio technology in the United Kingdom, aiming to improve network capacity, coverage and energy efficiency.

Cisco continues to strengthen its AI infrastructure portfolio with advanced networking technologies designed to support large-scale AI workloads. The company has introduced its Silicon One G302 switching silicon, which offers 51.2 Tbps capacity to enhance data-center connectivity and network performance. Cisco is collaborating with NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA - Free Report) to develop advanced optical technology that increases bandwidth capacity and improves connectivity for AI data centers.

NOK’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Nokia shares have gained 24.5% over the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 17.9%.

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From a valuation standpoint, Nokia trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 1.97, below the industry tally of 4.92.

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Earnings estimates for 2026 have remained static at 39 cents over the past 60 days, while those for 2027 have decreased 6% to 47 cents.

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Nokia currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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