Telefónica’s autonomous network program represents a well-structured and holistic approach to advancing telecom processes and workflows toward higher levels of autonomy.
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Summary
Telefónica’s autonomous network program represents a well-structured and holistic approach to advancing telecom processes and workflows toward higher levels of autonomy. The program emphasizes identifying appropriate metrics to assess the impact of autonomy, consistently measuring outcomes, and benchmarking internal efforts against established frameworks, such as the TM Forum’s Autonomous Operations Maturity Framework. This comprehensive approach has proven effective in adapting and replicating use cases across various markets and domains. Over the past five years, Telefónica has successfully implemented twelve Level 4 use cases, while managing a portfolio of over 400 use cases that span multiple domains, processes, and markets, showcasing a full maturity journey across autonomy levels.
Taking a holistic approach sets the foundation for success
One of Telefónica’s most commendable achievements is its decision to adopt a holistic approach to network autonomy. Unlike other operators that focus on isolated domains or processes, Telefónica integrates automation across all network domains—core, RAN, fixed-access, transport, IP, and telco cloud—and operational processes, including planning, designing, testing, deploying, and operations. This comprehensive strategy ensures that value creation is captured across multiple dimensions, including customer experience, operational expenditure (opex), and capital expenditure (capex).
As a result, the scale of Telefónica’s efforts is impressive, with 400 use cases implemented across its three main business units in Spain, Brazil, and Germany. These use cases span multiple domains and processes, achieving various levels of autonomy from Level 1 to Level 4 today. Telefónica’s ability to scale these use cases beyond proof-of-concept (PoC) to production environments underscores the maturity and seriousness of its autonomous networks program.
Autonomous networks program reflects Telefónica’s commitment to ambitious goals
Telefónica’s autonomous network program is guided by ambitious yet achievable targets. The company has committed to reaching Level 3.75 autonomy by 2028 and Level 4 autonomy by 2030. Importantly, these targets represent an aggregate across all business units, domains, and processes, showcasing Telefónica’s commitment to a unified vision of its transformation.
This commitment is further reinforced by the program’s governance structure, which integrates autonomy targets as a technical key performance indicator (KPI) monitored alongside critical financial metrics like revenue, operating margins, and free cash flow. By embedding network autonomy into its broader strategic framework, Telefónica ensures accountability and sustained focus on achieving its goals.
Measuring progress with precision
Telefónica’s focus on defining and measuring the right KPIs has been a guiding force in its journey toward network autonomy. The company has established eight KPIs across four key areas:
- Network transformation
- Network autonomy
- Customer experience
- Energy efficiency.
Additionally, Telefónica defines operational KPIs for each use case, ensuring that progress is consistently tracked and aligned with its broader objectives.
For example, in the Fractal use case, which focuses on network planning and design, one of the key KPIs is the percentage of fiber reuse. As Telefónica progressed from Level 1 to Level 4 autonomy in this use case, the percentage of fiber reuse increased from 47% to 67%, significantly reducing the need for new fiber deployment. This improvement not only translates into substantial capex savings but also highlights the tangible benefits of automation in network planning.
The Fractal use case in Brazil exemplifies Telefónica’s ability to leverage AI for network planning and design. By automating the process of connecting new mobile sites to the IP network, Fractal has delivered remarkable results:
- Fiber reuse: Automation has enabled design engineers to reuse 67% of existing fiber, up from 47% when the process was manually executed. This improvement significantly reduces the need for new fiber deployment, resulting in substantial capex savings.
- Reduced lead time: The time required for planning and design has decreased from 60 days to mere minutes, demonstrating the efficiency gains achieved through automation.
- Capex optimization: The combination of increased fiber reuse and reduced lead time translates into direct capex savings, showcasing the financial impact of AI-driven automation.
Fractal’s success underscores the importance of focusing on operational KPIs to measure and drive progress. By consistently tracking metrics like fiber reuse, Telefónica has been able to quantify the benefits of its autonomous network initiatives and make data-driven decisions to optimize performance.
Scaling success across business units
Telefónica’s holistic approach has also been instrumental in scaling use cases across its business units. The company has implemented twelve Level 4 use cases over the past five years, spanning domains such as RAN, core, transport, and IP. These use cases address a wide range of processes, from planning and deployment to operations, and are tailored to the unique needs of each market.
For instance, in Germany, Telefónica has focused on intelligent planning for the microwave transport network, while in Spain, it has implemented smart capex for customer fiber deployment. Despite the differences in market maturity and network infrastructure, Telefónica’s ability to adapt and scale use cases across geographies highlights the flexibility and robustness of its approach.
Benchmarking for continuous improvement
To ensure the credibility and effectiveness of its initiatives, Telefónica benchmarks its implementations against industry standards, such as the TM Forum’s guidebook for assessing autonomy levels from L0 to L5. The company has also established a formal auditing process to evaluate each use case’s level of autonomy. This rigorous approach not only validates Telefónica’s progress but also provides a framework for continuous improvement.
Appendix
Further reading
“Automating Network Capacity Creation with AI: Vivo’s Fractal Project” Telefónica, March 2025
“ISSU: Telefónica promotes the autonomy of the Core 5G SA domain in Germany” Telefónica, December 2025
“Advancing in Network Autonomy: Intelligent planning for microwave network in Germany” Telefónica, July 2025
“How Artificial Intelligence Is Revolutionizing Network Fiber Planning” Telefónica, December 2025
“One more step towards autonomous networks: self-healing in Brazil’s 5G Core” Telefónica, July 2025
“Level 4 Autonomy: Digital Twin for O2 transport network in Germany” Telefónica, May 2025
“Intelligent automation for flapping: working towards autonomous networks” Telefónica, July 2025
Author
Inderpreet Kaur, Senior Analyst, Telco cloud and network automation
