Nokia Chooses Pure Storage to Power Next-Gen Red Hat Telco Cloud

Nokia Chooses Pure Storage to Power Next-Gen Red Hat Telco Cloud is profiled by BTW Media because public-source evidence links it to internet infrastructure, governance, operational dependencies, or market visibility.

• A new telco cloud reference design pairs Nokia, Pure Storage and Red Hat technology.
• The architecture targets standardisation and performance for cloud-native network functions and potential AI workloads.

What happened: Nokia updates its telco cloud stack with Pure Storage

Nokia has announced that it will integrate Pure Storage’s all-flash FlashArray as the primary storage component in its telco cloud reference architecture built on Red Hat OpenShift. The reference design is intended to help telecommunications service providers deploy and manage cloud-native network functions (CNFs) and applications across distributed network sites — from edge locations to core data centres and public cloud environments — with consistent performance and simplified operations.

The arrangement builds on Nokia’s existing commitment to Red Hat OpenShift, chosen as the core container platform for its cloud-native network workloads in June 2023. The company describes the Pure Storage integration as providing high-performance, scalable and energy-efficient storage aligned with its environmental priorities, and suitable for demanding telecom use cases including AI-related tasks.

According to Nokia, the updated OpenShift stack featuring Pure Storage reached “Ready for Sale” internally in December 2025, with customer activities already underway and general availability expected by April 2026. Operators can adopt Nokia’s full reference architecture with lifecycle management or procure Pure Storage independently while following Nokia’s deployment guidance.

Also Read: Nokia and Hypertec deploy AI-powered supercomputer in Canada

Also Read: Nokia restructures business to drive AI and network innovation

Why it’s important

Telecommunications operators are increasingly shifting from proprietary, bespoke infrastructure towards cloud-native and standardised platforms to reduce operational complexity and costs. Nokia’s reference architecture — combining container orchestration (Red Hat OpenShift) with unified storage — aims to simplify deployment and lifecycle management across many sites.

In practice, adopting a common storage layer promises more predictable behaviour and easier upgrades than legacy systems that often mix different products per function, but real-world benefits will depend on operator buy-in and integration with broader network toolchains. The inclusion of potential support for AI-related network automation highlights how telco clouds are evolving beyond basic container hosting towards more autonomous operations, a trend also noted by industry analysts observing AI-native network demands.

However, investors and operators may still question how quickly service providers will transition away from existing infrastructure given costs and integration challenges. Additionally, the long-term performance and sustainability claims will need independent verification outside vendor marketing to demonstrate tangible operational gains at scale.