BARCELONA – The magic of Mobile World Congress (MWC) brought Nokia and Ericsson a little closer together, as the two rivals embarked on what analysts dubbed a "landmark" collaboration on autonomous networks.

As announced at MWC 2026, Ericsson is now a member of Nokia’s Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) Marketplace, while Nokia will join the Ericsson rApp Ecosystem, as built around the Ericsson Intelligent Automation Platform (EIAP).

According to the firms, the duo share a focus on championing autonomous networks, zeroing in particularly on the R1 interface through which rApps interact with the SMO. This, they said, was pivotal to integrating AI and automation into mobile networks, changing deployment, optimization, and operational workflows as providers worldwide aim to reach and exceed level-four autonomy.

Daryl Schoolar, analyst and director at Recon Analytics, agreed the collaboration is a pivotal between the pair.

"This is a landmark agreement and shows when each vendor talks about an open ecosystem, they fully mean it," Schoolar said. "Given that most mobile network are multivendor this cross-vendor collaboration is important for network operators to ensure a common end-user experience regardless of the underlying infrastructure supplier."

On the announcement, Nokia CTO Ari Kynaslahti commented: "This partnership with Ericsson marks a pivotal advancement in how the industry delivers the next generation of autonomous networks. By aligning on open frameworks and intelligent operational models, we are giving service providers a more adaptive and future-proof foundation for automation. This collaboration also accelerates the evolution of robust rApp environments that will enable operators to introduce new capabilities faster, optimize their networks with greater precision, and scale innovation across diverse deployment scenarios worldwide."

"This collaboration is a key step forward for the telecoms industry giving communication service providers greater choice and flexibility as they execute their autonomous network transformation strategies," added Anders Vestergren, head of solution area network management at Ericsson. "The agreement between Nokia and Ericsson shows genuine progress in the ongoing and already-productive effort to encourage innovation using the R1 interface, and cultivate diverse, engaged, and dynamic rApp ecosystems working together to embed this essential area of telecoms technology in networks worldwide."