SoftBank Corp., a Japan-based telecom operator, and Ericsson Japan K.K., the Japanese unit of Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson, said on August 20 that they validated Ericsson’s AI in RAN software on SoftBank’s commercial 5G network in Japan.

The companies described it as Japan’s first validation of the AI-native Scheduler for Link Adaptation on a commercial 5G network.

The companies said the AI-native scheduler adjusts downlink transmission settings in real time inside the radio access network, or RAN.

In the trial, it improved spectral efficiency by up to about 25% and downlink user throughput by up to about 50%, with average gains of about 10% across the evaluated locations.

The validation builds on an existing relationship.

Ericsson said in 2025 it expanded its 4G and 5G network equipment partnership with SoftBank, and in 2026 it said it would modernize SoftBank’s core network in Japan.

🔗 Source: SoftBank Corp.

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