Nokia Bell Labs, KDDI Research enter joint research agreement

Nokia (NOK) and KDDI Research have entered into a joint research agreement to accelerate the development of sustainable, intelligent and resilient 6G networks. By combining KDDI’s real network data and operational insights with Nokia Bell Labs’ advanced energy consumption models and features and expertise in programmable network architectures, the companies can jointly explore new approaches to energy efficiency and distributed core network design. The research agreement, signed on November 5, 2025, will help both organizations shape the direction of 6G research and bring practical innovations closer to real-world deployment. The agreement expands on Nokia and KDDI’s long history of collaboration, leveraging the companies’ respective strengths: KDDI Research’s cutting-edge advanced communications R&D work and Nokia Bell Labs’ leadership in technology and telecommunications innovation. Under this new agreement, the two companies are conducting research in two key areas of 6G: mMIMO energy efficiency: New techniques for reducing base-station energy consumption while enhancing communication, specifically targeted at proposed 6G spectrum. Distributed programmable core network services for 6G: New mobile core technologies that will ensure continuous communication during infrastructure failures and natural disasters.