Automating telecom network operations with specialized language models for enhanced efficiency and performance

BubbleRAN, a leader in intelligent network solutions, and Khalifa University’s 6G Research Center, renowned for cutting-edge telecommunications research, today announced a pioneering collaboration to demonstrate SLM-driven RAN Intelligence at Mobile World Congress 2025 (Barcelona, March 03-06). This first-of-its-kind showcase will highlight how Small Language Models (SLMs) are redefining the role of GenAI in telecom network automation accelerating telecom network operations. This initiative is further strengthened by Aalto University’s research expertise, contributing to advancements in AI-driven Telecommunications. The shift to SLMs: Smarter, Leaner AI for Telecom. While Large Language Models (LLMs) excel in general-purpose tasks, their computational demands and latency challenges limit their usage in telecom applications. BubbleRAN and Khalifa University’s solution leverages specialized SLMs (1–7 billion parameters) tailored for the telecom domain, delivering resource efficiency, domain expertise, real-time decision-making. Traditional AI tools struggle to contextualize the flood of data in modern networks. BubbleRAN Intelligent Telco Agent, powered by Khalifa University’s SLM technology, addresses this by automating troubleshooting, enabling proactive optimization, and simplifying operations. Use Case in Action: Operator asks: “Why did throughput drop in Sector X?” Agent responds: Cross-references live data, pinpoints a misconfigured transmit power, and guides remediation – all in under 5 seconds. This effectively replaces the command-line interface (CLI) tools with intuitive, context-aware dialogue! “ We are delighted to collaborate with BubbleRAN for this first-of-its-kind showcase at Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, the perfect platform for innovative technologies. Our initial pioneering work with Telecom domain specific LLM laid the foundations. Now, this joint demo on SLM-driven RAN intelligence represents the next big step—leveraging specialized, efficient models with reasoning capability to reshape the future of wireless communications with real-time adaptability and automation , ” says Professor Merouane Debbah, Founder-Director, 6G Research Center, Khalifa University. Navid Nikaein, CEO of BubbleRAN, added, “Our Intelligent Telco Agent acts as a controlled autopilot – empowering operators with actionable insights while retaining human oversight. This is how we make 6G sustainable.” Unlike generic chatbots, BubbleRAN’s solution is tailored for telecom: it not only replies to generic questions about the Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) stack or 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard but it also integrates live network data for real-time to answer specific questions related to the current network deployment, anomalies and how to troubleshoot or how to optimize the network, all in a form of actionable insights. The full demonstration will be displayed from 3 – 6 March 2025 at BubbleRAN stand (6E9) at MWC Barcelona 2025.