KDDI, a leading mobile operator in Japan, has partnered with Ericsson  to implement an innovative, AI-based solution to optimize its LTE radio access network and improve end-user experience. The solution, which is part of Ericsson’s managed services offering, automatically finds optimal radio network parameters in the network resulting in increased spectrum efficiency between bands and improved throughput. The collaboration is part of KDDI’s AI & automation program that seeks to find innovative ways to modernize optimization and provide better performance to the operator’s customers.

In a series of trials conducted in dense urban areas, the Ericsson AI-based solution improved network throughput by nearly 10 percent. Normally, KDDI would have needed thousands of hours to complete a network-wide analysis to come up with optimized parameters but with Ericsson’s solution, the process now takes less than 30 minutes to complete.

With the outcome exceeding expectations, KDDI and Ericsson are now expanding this approach several additional geographical areas in Japan.

Yasuo Ohkouchi, General Manager of Mobile Network Technical Development Division, says: "We have identified network performance improvement as a critical factor for delivering a great network experience to our customers. However, today we're spending a huge amount of time to do this. Using the machine learning-based methodology provided by Ericsson, we see that network optimization, that takes each area's specific attributes into consideration, can be done in a much shorter about of time."

Chris Houghton, Head of Market Area North East Asia, Ericsson, says: “KDDI has very clear vision that puts the customer satisfaction as the top priority, and they see network performance as a crucial factor. Ericsson’s AI-based network optimization is a technology designed to improve network performance with completely new levels of speed, scalability and effective results. We look forward to continuing our strong cooperation with KDDI as we support them to achieve their goals.”

In 2018, Ericsson established Global Artificial Intelligence Accelerator labs to develop concrete use cases and test them in live network environments. Ericsson is committed to further enhancing its AI capabilities to support its customers’ automation journey in the 5G era.

Ericsson's state- of-the-art Network Design and Optimization solutions blends existing know-how of multiple complex network consolidation engagements with next-generation machine learning. This is maximizing end-user experience in service provider’s networks while minimizing their total cost of ownership.