BubbleRAN and Telenor have successfully launched an NVIDIA AI-powered solution for the autonomous network operations and optimization on one of Color Line’s vessels, a passenger and cargo ship operating between Norway and international destinations. The outcome has been remarkable, delivering significant gains in performance and reliability, greater operational agility, and overall a better onboard connectivity experience for customers and crew.
Operating a mobile network on a vessel at sea presents a number of distinct challenges. The ship’s metallic structure, interference from other networks, and constantly shifting weather conditions are affecting the access and backhaul radio links making the traditional network management and optimization highly complex and challenging.
This solution overcomes these challenges by creating a symbiosis between AI agents and algorithms. This system dynamically controls a suite of access and backhaul radio parameters in real-time, autonomously optimizing both uplink and downlink performance to adapt to the variable conditions at sea, ensuring stable service and strong user experience throughout the voyage.
Today, this solution ensures robust daily operations and an exceptional connectivity experience for both passengers and crew. Looking ahead, it paves the way for even greater efficiency through coordinated optimization with neighboring public and private networks, promising continuous improvement in both network and user performance.
Launch of Innovative Optimization System
The solution, Opti-Sphere, is a first-of-its-kind agentic network optimization system that helps public and private 5G operators to transit from isolated and manual tuning to coordinated and automated decision-making. It turns live network data into actionable insights, and when approved, can apply safe configuration changes, pre-validated through a real-time digital twin.
The system addresses a major operational challenge for maritime networks: sustaining stable performance and user experience in harsh radio environments. Opti-Sphere meets this challenge by continuously optimizing user equipment uplink power while adhering to operator-defined constraints and safety policies.
At MWC Barcelona, Opti-Sphere is demonstrated live at sea, optimizing Telenor Maritime Networks on top of an Ericsson private 5G deployment. Trained and validated on data from 33 ships worldwide, the system is currently applying adaptive power control across two shipboard cells, improving uplink performance by learning from historical data and safely evaluating a small set of candidate configurations through real-time digital-twin validation.
The demo also features a small-scale replica of a private maritime 5G network, showcasing the same closed-loop optimization approach and pointing to autonomous private 5G networks of the future. Together, the demonstrations highlight how Opti-Sphere delivers operational and business value beyond dashboards, accelerating troubleshooting and reducing maintenance through continuous observability and automated parameter tuning backed by measurable KPI improvements.
A Model of Ecosystem Co-Creation
Opti-Sphere represents a true model of ecosystem co-creation, designed from the ground up as a multi-partner and multi-vendor solution. It integrates leading components from across the telecommunications landscape: BubbleRAN provides the foundational automation and orchestration layer with its SMO-Sphere platform and Agentic Toolkit (BAT); Telenor’s Research & Innovation and Maritime units serve as co-developers and validation partners; NVIDIA platform with NVIDIA NeMo Agent Toolkit powers the AI frameworks and agentic workflows along with NVIDIA/BubbleRAN telco config blueprint built on MX-AI; while LITEON 5G small cells and Amarisoft supplies software-based 5G network and terminals comprising the critical infrastructure and real-time digital twin environment for testing and validation.
“Opti-Sphere shows what happens when AI becomes truly operational: it doesn’t just observe the network, it reasons, validates, and improves it. Successfully deploying this in the harsh maritime environment stands as a powerful proof point for ecosystem co-creation in mission-critical private 5G.” says Navid Nikaein, CEO, BubbleRAN
“This shows what’s possible when innovators come together with a shared ambition. By combining BubbleRAN’s agility, NVIDIA’s accelerated computing, Telenor Maritime’s operational expertise, and Telenor R&I’s research capabilities, we’ve achieved results none of us could have achieved alone. These kinds of collaborations, built on trust, openness and a willingness to challenge each other, can contribute to innovations that move the industry forward”, highlights Dagfinn Myhre, SVP Research & Innovation at Telenor ASA.
“This collaboration demonstrates how agentic AI moves beyond generic tooling and becomes operational in real-world telco environments - bringing reasoning to resolve complex conflicts, accelerating decisions, and translating AI innovation into measurable operational outcomes.” says Chris Penrose, Global VP of business development for telco at NVIDIA.
“With integrated digital-twin capabilities, this solution changes how networks are optimized and evolved. Digital twins enable prediction and faster iteration while reducing operational risk and cost.” points out Emmanuel Puig, Senior VP of Engineering at Amarisoft.
“By showcasing a compact private 5G deployment at MWC, we’re demonstrating how intelligent closed-loop optimization can be brought to many industries beyond maritime.” says Richard Chiang, SLA SBU General Manager from LITEON.
Live demonstrations at MWC Barcelona
The full demonstration will be live at MWC Barcelona March 2–5, 2026 at Telenor stand 2J20 and BubbleRAN stand 5D97.
About Telenor
Telenor is a global mobile telecommunications company operating with locally relevant brands across the Nordics and Asia. Telenor’s purpose in all markets is about empowering societies and connecting you to what matters most.Telenor Research & Innovation is the experimental arm of the company, conducting applied research and carrying out experiments with partners to demonstrate the innovation potential in technologies such as 5G, AI and cloud. For more information, visit https://www.telenor.com/insights/.
Telenor Maritime, a subsidiary of Telenor, provides advanced connectivity and digitalization solutions for the maritime industry. Collaborating with shipowners and technology partners, Telenor Maritime enhances safety, efficiency, and passenger experience at sea. For more information, visit https://www.telenormaritime.com
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