Ericsson and Telstra have extended their partnership to help telecom operators build networks that can manage more tasks automatically, with less human involvement.
The move follows an agreement announced in October 2025, which focused on testing new technologies and finding practical ways to improve network automation.
As a result, the two companies will now look at how network information can be better organised and shared so that systems from different providers can work together more easily.
Meanwhile, they will set up a joint working group to study how networks use and exchange information. The group will share its findings with industry bodies to help develop common standards and the work will focus on what is known as the Knowledge Plane, which holds information about how networks work, the rules they follow and how they should respond to different situations.
Telstra Chief Architect, Mark Saunders, said: “Autonomous networks require more than the automation of individual tasks. They depend on a shared understanding of what the network is, what it is expected to do and how much confidence can be placed in the knowledge supporting each decision.
“By working with Ericsson on common approaches to knowledge and trusted agency, we can help address these foundational challenges and contribute to the industry’s progress towards more interoperable and dependable network autonomy.”
Ericsson Head of Solution Area Business & Operations Support Systems, Mats Karlsson, added: “The evolution towards autonomous networks will require collaboration across the telecommunications industry.
“Common approaches to knowledge, knowledge exchange and trustworthy AI will be important to enable autonomous capabilities to operate more consistently across domains and technology environments. Our expanded collaboration with Telstra is an opportunity to explore these foundations, share outcomes with the industry and support the development of more open and scalable approaches to network autonomy.”
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