NTT DOCOMO and Samsung tested smart AI technology that stops mobile internet buffering by predicting signal drops before they happen.
Two major technology companies, Japanese mobile phone operator NTT DOCOMO and South Korean electronics giant Samsung, have announced a breakthrough in artificial intelligence that will keep mobile internet fast and smooth for individual phone users. On Monday, August 10, 2026, the partner companies confirmed that they successfully tested new artificial intelligence software designed to continuously check phone connections and stop frustrating video buffering before it even starts. Instead of treating every phone in a crowd the exact same way, this new artificial intelligence system focuses on each person’s phone screen independently to ensure videos and online games never freeze.
For many years, traditional mobile networks gave the same internet settings to every smartphone connected to a neighborhood phone tower. When a user walked behind a tall concrete building or entered a crowded basement, their phone signal would suddenly drop, causing live video calls to cut out and online streaming videos to stop loading. To fix this common problem, scientists from both companies built smart software called user-level AI-RAN, which stands for artificial intelligence radio access network. This intelligent computer software learns how each person moves throughout the day and detects early signs of weak signal strength before the phone user even notices a problem.
When the artificial intelligence notices that a smartphone is moving toward an area with weak radio signals, it automatically changes the phone’s internal settings and switches it to a better frequency band before any connection drop happens. During real-world testing using mobile network data collected across Japan, the new artificial intelligence system successfully cut mobile internet slowdowns in half, reducing transmission speed drops from over thirteen percent down to just seven percent. This means everyday smartphone owners watching high-definition videos or taking work video calls can enjoy smooth internet without annoying pauses or blurry screens.
Explaining how this breakthrough directly helps everyday mobile users, Samsung Research vice president Chung Jin-kook stated that “this verification is a result of proving that AI can substantially improve the service experience of individual users.” He expressed great optimism about working together to bring this technology to phone networks worldwide, adding that “we will continue to cooperate with NTT DOCOMO to advance and standardize AI-RAN technology to lead user-centered future communication technology.”
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Echoing those thoughts, NTT DOCOMO technology executive Masafumi Masuda emphasized how important this progress is for future sixth-generation phone networks, noting that “the achievements of both companies are an important step forward in realizing the user-centered communication experience in the future network.” Pledging to keep improving signal quality for millions of mobile subscribers, Masafumi Masuda added that their team will work hard to “deliver new value to customers by improving AI-based technology and service quality.”
Engineers from both tech firms also solved a major problem with artificial intelligence by making sure the smart software does not slow down the entire phone system with too much data processing. Instead of gathering useless data from every device at once, the system only processes relevant information when a specific user experiences a weak signal. The two companies have already submitted their technical findings to global technology boards, paving the way for faster, smarter, and more reliable mobile connections for phone users across the globe in the coming years.
