Telefonica has accelerated its network automation strategy, ending 2025 with 12 fully operational Level 4 autonomous network use cases. The milestone marks a major step in the company’s Autonomous Network Journey (ANJ), launched in 2021 to transform telecom operations through automation and artificial intelligence (AI).
The progress highlights how AI-powered automation is reshaping telecom infrastructure across Spain, Germany and Brazil, positioning Telefonica as a leading European operator in autonomous networks.
Autonomous network maturity gains momentum
Telefonica’s transformation is aligned with the framework defined by TM Forum, which classifies network autonomy from Level 0 (manual) to Level 5 (fully autonomous). At higher levels, networks can self-configure, self-optimize and self-heal while operating across multiple domains.
Telefonica continuously measures autonomy across key network domains including:
Fixed Access
Mobile Access
Transport
IP
Core
Telco Cloud
The company also evaluates maturity across planning, testing, deployment and operations processes to track progress toward predictive and self-sufficient network models.
Collaboration across Spain, Germany and Brazil
The rapid acceleration of Telefonica’s ANJ program has been driven by operational teams across Telefonica Spain, O2 Germany, and Vivo.
These teams have delivered 12 Level 4 use cases capable of acting autonomously based on human intent. Key examples include:
AI-driven network capacity and planning
Autonomous creation of network capacity using Vivo’s Fractal AI
Intelligent fiber deployment planning in Spain through Smart CAPEX
Intelligent planning for the O2 Germany transmission network
Autonomous client fiber capacity creation (Fractal II)
Digital twins and advanced analytics
Transport network digital twin (NetOptimizer) in Germany
Operations analytics and automated ticketing virtual assistant at O2 Germany
Intelligent multi-domain correlation for proactive detection of 4G and 5G issues
Autonomous operations and software automation
Autonomous detection and resolution of IP network issues in Spain
Autonomous detection and resolution in Vivo’s virtualized 5G Core
NetCheck automation for error-free software changes and IP configuration
In-service software upgrades for 5G Core at O2 Germany
These use cases demonstrate how AI and automation are improving efficiency, reliability and service quality across multiple network layers.
Roadmap to Level 4 autonomy by 2030
Telefonica has set ambitious targets to further scale network automation. The company aims to:
Reach an average network autonomy level of 3.75 by 2028
Achieve Level 4 autonomy across Spain, Brazil and Germany by 2030
Reaching these goals will require continued investment in AI, automation and talent to enable predictive operations and minimize manual intervention.
Network automation takes center stage at MWC
Andrea Folgueiras, Global CTIO at Telefonica, will present the company’s autonomous network progress and roadmap at Mobile World Congress. Her session will focus on how autonomous networks will power the next wave of telecom growth and digital services.
Why autonomous networks matter
Telefonica’s progress highlights the growing importance of network automation for telecom operators. Autonomous networks can:
Reduce operational costs and complexity
Improve reliability and customer experience
Accelerate service deployment
Enable scalable 5G and future network technologies
With 12 Level 4 use cases already live, Telefonica is moving closer to a future where AI-driven networks operate with minimal human intervention, transforming telecom operations at global scale.
