Pre-MWC, Telefónica has detailed advances in AI-driven community automation and enterprise edge. It has 12 level-4 autonomous use instances throughout Spain, Germany and Brazil (concentrating on stage 4 throughout its operations by 2030), and has partnered Mavenir on core AI, and expanded 5G/fibre edge-compute companies nationwide.
In sum – what to know:
Stage 4 autonomy – Telefónica has 12 stage 4 use-cases for autonomous community capabilities; it’s going to attain stage 3.75 throughout its operations in 2028 and stage 4 in 2030.
Core community R&D – Telefónica is working with US agency Mavenir to create a joint AI ‘innovation hub’ to combine AI into the “evolution” of its core community infrastructure.
B2B edge companies – Telefónica has activated B2B edge companies in 5 extra cities in Spain, combining information centre capability with FTTH/5G; it’s going to have 17 by the top of 2026.
One other fascinating pre-MWC press dump, which we’re simply catching up on; this time, from Spain-based operator group Telefónica, which has a few information gadgets about community automation, together with an R&D take care of US vendor Mavenir round AI in its core community and a full evaluate of its Stage 4 advances throughout its world operations, plus an in depth press be aware about rollout of edge companies on its 5G and fibre infrastructure for enterprises in Spain. Its MWC message is identical as Ericsson’s yesterday: that AI is taking community automation additional, and faster, and that long-time 5G guarantees are nearing industrial actuality, notably for enterprises. Right here’s the information…
1 | Community autonomy – reside makes use of instances and regular progress
Telefónica has claimed “regular progress” in its technique to ship fully-autonomous mobile community infrastructure, as outlined in its personal Autonomous Community Journey (ANJ) challenge, working since 2021. It has a dozen (12) stage 4 use instances, as of the top of 2025 – categorised in keeping with the TM Discussion board benchmark on community autonomy (ranges 0 to five). These are scattered throughout (“pushed by the joint work of”) its operations in Spain, Brazil and Germany. Telefónica is on monitor to succeed in stage 3.75 in 2028 and stage 4 in 2030, it mentioned.
It mentioned its ANJ technique has “far exceeded preliminary expectations”; its progress to date (12 stage 4 use instances, on monitor to succeed in stage 3.75 throughout the board by 2028) “already displays a really superior stage”. It mentioned: “What gave the impression to be a long-term journey has accelerated considerably due to… the operations groups of Telefónica Spain, O2 Germany, and Vivo (Brazil)… Twelve stage 4 use instances consolidates the group’s place as a European benchmark in community automation.” The 2028/2030 targets had been revealed at its Capital Markets Day in November.
Stage 4/5 autonomy means networks which might be “able to self-learning, span a number of domains, and possess self-configuration, self-optimization, and self-healing capabilities”, clarified Telefónica. It mentioned it periodically measures autonomy in every community area (mounted entry, cell entry, transport, IP, core, telco cloud), in addition to in key processes (planning, testing, deployment, operations), and, thereby, identifies the “precise maturity” of every of its key operations in Spain, Brazil, and Germany. Its group stage consolidates the three ends in a standardized means.
Its present level-4 instances (“able to performing autonomously primarily based on the intention transmitted by a human”) are “important” to drive up its world common, it mentioned.
It listed all 12, as follows: creation of community capability (by way of Fractal at Vivo); digital twin for transport (NetOptimizer, O2 Germany); decision of IP weaknesses (Telefónica Spain); decision of 5G core points (Vivo); design for fibre deployments (Sensible CAPEX, Telefónica Spain); IP software program modifications (Telefónica Spain); IP configuration (Telefónica Spain); consumer fibre capability (Fractal, Vivo); an analytics and diagnostics assistant (O2 Germany); in-service core software program modifications (O2 Germany); multi-domain detection of 4G/5G anomalies and root trigger (O2 Germany).
Andrea Folgueiras, world chief tech and knowledge officer at Telefónica, is speaking about levelling-up with AI at MWC subsequent week (Corridor 3, Barcelona, March 3).
2 | Community autonomy – new AI innovation hub with Mavenir
Extra briefly, and associated: Telefónica is working with Mavenir (by way of an MOU) to create a joint AI ‘innovation hub’ to combine AI into the “evolution of core networks”. The brand new hub will emulate “manufacturing‑grade site visitors patterns in a managed surroundings” – as a “actual‑world testbed” – for “AI‑pushed autonomous community orchestration, intent‑primarily based companies, and AI‑enabled monetization frameworks”. Each firms will use it to check and refine “subsequent‑technology options forward of enormous‑scale industrial deployment”, it mentioned.
An announcement mentioned: “Telefónica and Mavenir will form new enterprise fashions, align intently with operational models, and speed up the event and launch of AI‑native options in core networks – firmly positioning Telefónica on the forefront of telecom innovation, service differentiation, and subsequent‑technology monetization.” There was no affirmation of the whereabouts of the brand new AI hub, however it’s presumably to be situated in Spain.
Pardeep Kohli, president and chief government at Mavenir, mentioned: “With an extended historical past of delivering core, voice, and messaging platforms throughout a number of Telefónica working firms, we deliver confirmed, production-scale innovation into this collaboration. By exposing these community capabilities via open interfaces, we allow AI to show the community right into a programmable service platform, creating a singular alternative for Telefónica to operationalize AI, launch new digital and enterprise companies sooner, and unlock new income streams.”
The pair will demo “next-generation use instances in AI-enriched communications, autonomous service publicity, and intent-driven operations” at MWC subsequent week (Barcelona, March 2-5), they mentioned.
3 | Enterprise edge – extra native compute nodes throughout Spain
Most fascinating in methods, Telefónica has mentioned it has activated industrial edge companies for enterprises in 5 cities in Spain – in and round Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao, and A Coruña. These are connected by way of 12 “infrastructures”, it mentioned, which already work as edge ‘nodes’ in seven different locales – in Madrid (as a second), Barcelona, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Valladolid, Terrassa, and Merida. It should open 5 extra places in 2026, it mentioned – in Zaragoza, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gijón, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and Santiago de Compostela.
As such, it’s going to have 17 edge “nodes” within the nation by the top of 2026, delivering edge-based computing capabilities on its fibre FTTH and 5G SA infrastructure. All its edge-node services are situated in former copper exchanges transformed into edge centres. The rollout is a part of its so-called Edge Plan technique. Its edge companies additionally benefit from the advantages provided by Open Gateway APIs, it famous. It’s pitching edge compute and community companies to the “tech vanguard related to this new wave of digital transformation”.
It listed candidate sectors as logistics, retail, ports, and “society usually”, and sure purposes as “mass comms, digital twins, and autonomous driving” – mainly, wherever larger management, dynamism, and sovereignty over information is required.
The agency not too long ago partnered with CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles) to launch the “first European B2B pilot integrating edge and 5G SA capabilities utilized to the railway sector”, it mentioned. “CAF can deploy inside notion options primarily based on synthetic imaginative and prescient with out the necessity to set up processing nodes in every automobile, sustaining low latency and making certain processing near the asset. Following this innovation challenge, Telefónica is now starting to market its edge companies,” it acknowledged.
The promise is for differentiated community and high-capacity computing companies, plus information sovereignty and compliance. It mentioned: “The brand new companies permit info to be processed as shut as attainable to the exercise, manufacturing facility, workplace, retailer, or enterprise – lowering latency, dependencies, and dangers, which represents an evolution of the cloud providing.” Its B2B arm, Telefónica Empresas, is providing two ranges of companies: ‘fundamental’ (Edge Básico) and ‘sensible’ (Sensible Edge), the place the primary is localised and optimised, but additionally “static”, and the second brings different “dynamism”.
It provided prolonged descriptions of every service, as observe…
“Primary Edge defines an availability zone, permitting firms and administrations to deploy purposes with extra ensures of continuity and resilience. When it comes to entry to a node from a manufacturing facility, retailer, or enterprise, when the shopper has Telefónica fiber (FTTH), the route that site visitors follows between each places is extremely optimized and stays inside the service area, lowering community hops. [It] opens up a spread of sovereign cloud companies, together with superior computing capability, due to digital machines with GPUs.
“Corporations and establishments will be capable to use these GPUs in service mode, with low latency and in a sovereign method, with out having to make the corresponding preliminary funding. It additionally incorporates sovereign AI capabilities via brokers and flexibility with RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Era), which offer flexibility, accuracy, and scalability. Primary Edge depends on the perfect safe and managed storage options, near the info to keep away from motion to the general public cloud. The service additionally contains complete license administration.”
“Sensible Edge [brings] low-latency connectivity in important processes with the potential for working companies on the transfer or in a distributed method, all whereas bringing AI nearer to the purpose the place enterprise exercise takes place. This clever and dynamic service is able to including key benefits comparable to deciding on the optimum node on the proper time and instantiating purposes – i.e., making a single, practical operational copy (occasion), permitting it to be executed in reminiscence beneath the course of the person, who chooses when it’s in operation.
“[It] gives entry to the chosen node by way of FTTH or 5G SA, with the choice to request QoS and personal 5G entry factors (APNs). Telefónica’s edge connects to mounted and cell networks.”
The challenge is a part of an Initiative of European Widespread Curiosity (IPCEI) coordinated by the European Fee (EC) to strengthen the digital capabilities of European trade. “Telefónica Spain’s proposal was the very best rated nationally in June 2021 and obtained the Fee’s backing,” the corporate mentioned. EC approval introduced financing by way of the Spanish authorities’s Restoration, Transformation and Resilience Plan. Telefónica additional defined the setup and sovereignty play, as follows…
“The nodes perform as small, low-latency information facilities to course of, analyze, and retailer information. Due to edge know-how, all of that is executed as shut as attainable to the supply of the knowledge, not like giant information centres or centralized cloud infrastructures… Along with the excessive availability and elasticity of the cloud, edge computing provides technological options and larger management over information, which contributes to strengthening digital sovereignty inside a framework of native laws.”
“This deployment opens up the choice of lowering technological dependence on service suppliers with platforms primarily based outdoors the European Union. As a substitute of a closed, centralized resolution owned by a big cloud supplier, Telefónica’s Edge Plan gives an open, decentralized, multi-provider mannequin wherein interfaces are shared and interoperability is assured, benefiting the ecosystem and, in fact, future clients.”
