Sami Komulainen, Elisa’s chief operating officer, told RCR that the operator has created a digital twin of its network and deployed agentic AI that operates alongside human engineers to troubleshoot issues and predict potential incidents
In sum – what to know:
AI-driven operations – Elisa told RCR that AI-powered automation has reduced customer-impacting network incidents by more than 80% while increasing preventive actions to 99%.
Premium 5G monetization – The Finnish operator is generating revenue through 5G Standalone, network slicing, fixed wireless access, private 5G networks, and IoT, rather than relying solely on traditional connectivity.
Pragmatic network strategy – Elisa said it continues to prioritize cloudification, automation, and performance over Open RAN deployments, while preparing its network for AI-native 6G.
Finnish operator Elisa has said artificial intelligence has already delivered measurable operational gains across its network, reducing customer-impacting incidents by more than 80% while supporting its broader strategy to monetize 5G through premium connectivity and enterprise services.
In an interview with RCR Wireless News, Sami Komulainen, Elisa’s chief operating officer and executive vice president for technology and operations, outlined how the operator is combining AI-driven network automation with commercial services such as 5G Standalone (5G SA), network slicing, fixed wireless access (FWA), private mobile networks, and IoT.
According to Komulainen, Elisa has spent more than a decade automating its network and is now extending those capabilities with AI. “We have laid a strong foundation by automating our network for more than a decade, and the impact has been measurable: AI-driven automation has reduced customer-impacting network incidents by more than 80% and pushed preventive actions to 99%, while improving operational efficiency and perceived network quality,” he said.
He added that the operator has created a digital twin of its network and deployed agentic AI that operates alongside human engineers to troubleshoot issues and predict potential incidents.
Elisa views these developments as part of a longer-term transition toward AI-native networks. “At Elisa, we see the transformation from a hardware-driven network to an AI- and software-driven one as a foundational shift.”
Komulainen said the company expects this work to help prepare for AI-native 6G networks, which it anticipates will emerge around 2030.
On the commercial side, Elisa said it is monetizing 5G technology through premium connectivity offerings rather than waiting for new applications to emerge. The operator offers 5G Standalone and 5G-Advanced (5G-A) subscriptions, network slicing, fixed wireless access, private mobile networks, and IoT services for enterprise customers.
Komulainen attributed Elisa’s commercial progress partly to its early deployment strategy. “Instead of waiting for ‘killer applications’ to emerge, Elisa launched one of the world’s first commercial 5G networks in Finland as early as 2019.”
The operator said its 5G coverage now reaches 97% of the population across Finland and Estonia. Elisa also commercialized 5G Standalone and 5G-A early in Europe, allowing it to build on its speed-based unlimited-data pricing model with premium connectivity services.
Among the services highlighted was the company’s “Own Lane” broadband offering, which uses 5G Standalone network slicing to provide dedicated network resources. Elisa also said demand continues to grow for private mobile networks across sectors including ports, manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics, while more than one million IoT devices are connected to its Finnish network.
On Open RAN, Komulainen said Elisa has not yet deployed the technology. Instead, the operator is concentrating on network cloudification and Cloud RAN, while evaluating openness where it provides operational or economic benefits. “Our approach is deliberately pragmatic: we adopt openness where it delivers clear operational or economic benefits, while continuing to prioritize proven performance and reliability at scale,” he said.
Looking ahead, Komulainen said AI is already changing network traffic characteristics, making programmable and AI-driven networks increasingly important as operators prepare for the next generation of mobile infrastructure.
