Nokia and Saudi Arabian neutral tower provider Tawal announced on Tuesday they have completed a live demo of a shareable multi-tenant, Open RAN edge cloud platform that could enable operators to share 5G infrastructure more cheaply.
The live demonstration, conducted at LEAP 2025 in Riyadh, featured Nokia’s 5G AirScale indoor radios connected to Dell PowerEdge XR8000 servers hosting virtualized CU/DU software in Nokia’s anyRAN framework.
Nokia said the open, cloud‑native platform supports multi‑operator RAN sharing and can host third‑party RAN software, which gives Tawal flexibility in its vendor selection without sacrificing carrier‑grade performance. Nokia added that the solution’s compact footprint and reduced power draw make it ideal for smart‑city edge nodes and enterprise campuses.
Tawal said the solution enables multiple service providers – including mobile operators and large enterprises – to share the same edge cloud platform at significantly lower costs than previously possible by reducing equipment capex and energy consumption. It also will help 5G service providers avoid wasting capex on duplicated infrastructure.
Neutral towers will be crucial as demand for widespread 5G connectivity grows in Saudi Arabia to support smart city projects, said Tawal chief commercial officer Abdulrahman Al Moaiqel.
“Neutral hosts must add value beyond steel and concrete. By partnering with Nokia, we can offer Saudi operators an on demand, pay as you grow 5G platform that cuts their TCO and accelerates digital transformation for the Kingdom’s giga projects,” he said in a statement.
