Nokia's Premier Membership Enhances SONiC Framework for AI-Powered Networking

Nokia Joins the SONiC Foundation as a Premier Member

On December 8, 2025, the Software for Open Networking in the Cloud (SONiC) Foundation announced that Nokia has officially joined as a Premier member. This significant advancement highlights Nokia's ongoing commitment to contributing to open, scalable, and AI-ready data center networking. With this new membership, Nokia aims to heighten its participation and collaboration in SONiC's initiatives, further driving innovation in the networking space.

Nokia has been a valuable contributor to the SONiC community since 2019, consistently ranking among the top organizations in terms of contributions. The company has introduced various innovative technologies, including numerous implementations in chassis and multi-ASIC architecture, contributions to the Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI), and enhancements for ARM architecture. By joining the SONiC Foundation in an elevated capacity, Nokia intends to broaden its involvement across various working groups, emphasizing the importance of collaboration in developing advanced networking solutions.

Mirza Arifovic, RD Lead at Nokia, has been appointed to the SONiC Governing Board, where he will play a vital role in shaping strategic initiatives for the project. This collaboration marks another step forward in Nokia's long-standing engagement with open-source networking, which has proven critical in supporting AI-scale deployments in modern data centers.

According to Arpit Joshipura, General Manager of Networking, Edge, and IoT at the Linux Foundation, Nokia's Premier membership is a testament to its critical role in the evolution of SONiC. He stated, "Nokia has played a crucial part in advancing SONiC from its inception to the deployment stages we see today in AI-scale environments. Their extensive knowledge in high-performance hardware, software development, and global-scale network engineering brings immense value to the community."

Rudy Hoebeke, Vice President of Software Product Management in Nokia's IP Networks Business Division, echoed similar sentiments, stating that this move allows Nokia to accelerate open-source collaboration. He noted, "For the last five years, we have been dedicated to the SONiC community, contributing innovative solutions that are now deployed globally across data center networks. Becoming a Premier member enables us to merge our high-performance hardware and modern automation approaches with the community's efforts, fostering the next generation of cloud and AI infrastructure."

Nokia's inclusion in the SONiC Foundation's Premier member list further strengthens SONiC's reputation as a leading open-source NOS for AI, cloud, and large-scale networking solutions. The global ecosystem that relies on SONiC benefits from its capacity to establish flexible, vendor-agnostic networks enhanced with robust automation, reliability, and community-driven innovation. Nokia joins an impressive roster of existing SONiC Foundation Premier member organizations, including tech giants such as Alibaba, Google, Cisco, and Microsoft, among others.

To find out more about the SONiC Foundation and explore ways to engage with the organization, visit their official website at www.sonicfoundation.dev.

Conclusion

Nokia's strategic decision to join the SONiC Foundation as a Premier member signifies a pivotal moment for both the company and the broader open networking community. By collaboratively enhancing the innovations that SONiC brings to the table, Nokia aims to pave the way for significant advancements in AI-scale networking infrastructure that is essential for the future of technology.