The telecommunications industry is entering a pivotal chapter in its modernization journey. As networks evolve from traditional infrastructure to cloud-native architectures, service providers face a fundamental challenge: How do you build a data foundation that can support both today’s cloud-native workloads and tomorrow’s AI-driven network automation—all while maintaining reliability at global scale?
Nokia answered that question by selecting Red Hat OpenShift as its primary reference platform in June 2023 for core network applications and recently selected Pure Storage as the data infrastructure foundation for its next-generation telco cloud. This collaboration represents a reference architecture for how modern service providers can architect data layers that span from edge to core to cloud while delivering the security, scalability, and operational simplicity that cloud native workloads and autonomous networks demand.
A Cloud Platform for Modern Networks
Nokia is committed to Red Hat OpenShift, which provides a consistent, carrier-grade foundation for its cloud-native network functions (CNFs) and its applications for autonomous network operation that will define the next era of telecommunications.
By choosing Pure Storage to anchor the data layer, Nokia is delivering predictable outcomes and repeatable rollouts across multiple CNFs and deployment sites through a fully lifecycle-managed solution.
What Industry Leaders Are Saying
The collaboration brings together three companies with deep telecommunications pedigree, each contributing essential elements to a unified vision for autonomous, cloud-native networks.
“Partnering with Nokia for the first time is a significant milestone that unites two innovators with a shared vision for the future of cloud-native networks. Pure Storage will provide the trusted, high-performance data platform underlying Nokia’s next-generation container cloud CNFs and applications, delivering the scale, efficiency, and simplicity service providers demand. We’re thrilled to bring the industry’s leading all-flash technology into this collaboration and unlock new opportunities together.” – Maciej Kranz, General Manager, Enterprise, Pure Storage.
“Nokia selected Pure Storage as the storage solution for our Red Hat OpenShift platform reference architecture due to their industry-leading all-flash technology that delivers the unparalleled speed, scalability, and sustainability critical for today’s demanding telecom applications, including Nokia CNFs, applications and AI workloads. Its inherent efficiency not only boosts performance but also significantly reduces energy consumption and embodied CO2e compared to traditional storage systems, firmly aligning with Nokia’s environmental priorities.”. –Marcelo Cheminn Madruga, Head of Portfolio Technology, Incubation and Architecture, Nokia Mobile Infrastructure Cloud and Network Services. ”
“Nokia and Red Hat have a well-established, globally proven collaboration built around Red Hat OpenShift as the foundation for Nokia’s CNFs. This trusted collaboration provides service providers with a robust, open, and scalable platform for innovative services. Pure Storage enhances this ecosystem by delivering a high-performance, energy-efficient data layer that is already trusted by many global service providers running Red Hat environments. Together, Nokia, Red Hat, and Pure Storage offer a carrier-grade, integrated foundation for modern transformation.” – Honoré LaBourdette, Vice President of Global Telco Ecosystem Success, Red Hat
The Technical Reference Architecture: Engineered for Carrier-grade Operations
At its core, this solution represents a hardened architecture built on Red Hat OpenShift, with Nokia CNFs supported by Pure Storage® FlashArray™ as the primary data infrastructure. The result is a consistent operational model that can be deployed across multiple sites with repeatable outcomes—critical for service providers managing hundreds or thousands of network nodes.
Contrast this approach with the fragmented storage strategies many service providers have inherited from their legacy infrastructure: Rather than managing different data platforms for different functions, service providers now have a unified data layer that scales predictably and operates consistently whether it’s powering edge applications or centralized cloud resources.
Why Pure Storage Anchors the Data Layer
The combination of Nokia, Red Hat, and Pure Storage creates a cloud-native stack engineered end to end for carrier-grade operations. Each company brings proven telecommunications expertise, and together they deliver capabilities that address the specific challenges service providers face when deploying CNFs at scale.
As a market leader and global reference for telco storage, Pure Storage enables service providers to standardize their data layer from edge to cloud. The benefits extend beyond just storage performance:
- Fast, efficient, resilient: All-flash performance delivers the speed cloud-native telco workloads demand, while data reduction efficiency optimizes storage costs. Consistent behavior across sites simplifies operations and troubleshooting.
- Non-disruptive upgrades: Hardware and software can be updated without downtime, improving both change safety and uptime across distributed deployments from edge to cloud.
- Lower run costs at scale: Flash efficiency and automation reduce support tickets, accelerate recovery times, and boost utilization rates across large infrastructure fleets—directly impacting operational expense.
All of this operates within Nokia’s reference-architected, lifecycle-managed approach on Red Hat OpenShift, giving service providers both technical consistency and commercial flexibility.
Availability and Path to Deployment
The new Nokia on Red Hat OpenShift iteration featuring Pure Storage reached Ready for Sale status at Nokia in December, with customers’ activities already underway. Global pre-sales teams are including Pure Storage as part of customers’ new opportunities, with general availability targeted for April 2026.
For service providers evaluating their options, Nokia offers two engagement paths. The first is a reference architecture, Nokia-led solution that includes Pure Storage within the Red Hat OpenShift-based infrastructure stack and lifecycle management model. Alternatively, service providers can procure Pure Storage directly while still leveraging the Nokia reference guidance—preserving commercial flexibility while maintaining consistent technical outcomes on Red Hat OpenShift.
The platform represents a new standard for how telecommunications infrastructure should be architected in the cloud-native era: unified, repeatable, and built from the ground up to support both today’s network functions and the AI-driven capabilities service providers will deploy tomorrow.