The operator set up its Autonomous Network Journey programme to execute its AN strategy in 2021 and says it “has far exceeded initial expectations”
Telefónica announced it finished 2025 with 12 Level 4 use cases, which it sees as a major step in accelerating its network transformation. The operator’s Autonomous Network Journey (ANJ) programme was launched in 2021 to rethink network processes using automation and AI Intelligence. The operator says the ANJ programme “has far exceeded initial expectations”.
It also says that progress has accelerated significantly thanks to the strong commitment of the operations teams of Telefónica Spain, O2 Germany and Vivo in Brazil (also see this story regarding Vivo, rApps and RAN automation). The UK is the operator group’s fourth key market where it operates under the O2 brand, but not is mentioned here.
The Levels are defined on TM Forum’s Autonomous Networks framework (see below), moving from totally manual environments to fully autonomous networks, classified in Levels 0 to 5. Level 5 networks are capable of self-learning, span multiple domains and their capabilities include self-configuration, self-optimisation and self-healing for maximum efficiency and reliability.
Telefónica measures the evolution of autonomy in each network domain – fixed access, mobile access, transport, IP, core and telco cloud – as well as in each key process. They include planning, testing, deployment and operations.
The resulting weighted indicator reflects the maturity of each of the operations in Spain, Brazil and Germany, and show how each country is progressing. Finally, the Group’s global level consolidates the progress of the three operations in a standardised way, offering a unified view of Telefónica’s overall progress towards autonomous maturity.
Fully operational use cases
Level 4 use cases are capable of acting autonomously based on the intention transmitted by a human and are essential to raise the global average of autonomy. The joint effort of the three operators meant closed 2025 with the following 12 use cases at Level 4. They are fully operational:
1. Autonomous creation of network capacity with Vivo’s AI (Fractal)
2. Digital twin for the transport network (NetOptimizer) from O2 Germany
3. Autonomous detection and resolution of weaknesses in Telefónica España’s IP network
4. Autonomous detection and resolution on Vivo’s virtualised 5G Core
5. Telefónica Spain’s intelligent planning for the deployment of customer fibre (Smart CAPEX)
6. Intelligent planning for the O2 Germany transmission network
7. NetCheck for error-free software changes from Telefonica Spain’s IP network
8. NetCheck for intelligent configuration of Telefónica España’s IP network
9. Autonomous creation of client fiber capacity (Fractal II) from Vivo
10. O2 Germany’s Operations Analytics, Ticketing, and Diagnostics automation virtual assistant
11. In-service software change of CORE 5G (InService Software Upgrade) from O2 Germany
12. Intelligent multi-domain correlation at the customer level for proactive and automated detection of impact, anomalies and root cause in 4G/5G at O2 Germany.
At the Capital Markets Day last November, the company presented a roadmap to reach an average level of autonomy of 3.75 by 2028 and Level 4 by 2030 in Spain, Brazil and Germany. The operator says these12 Level 4 use cases consolidates the Group’s position as a European benchmark in network automation.
Andrea Folgueiras, Global CTIO at Telefónica, will present these evolutions and use cases in the session she will offer in the Agora of Telefónica’s stand at the MWC.
Her talk, An autonomous, future-ready network powering our next wave of growth, will take place on 3 March between 11:30 am and 12 pm CET in Hall 3 – 3K31.
