O₂ Telefónica in Germany and Nokia are deploying 5G standalone core software on Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The rollout provides O₂ Telefónica with low latency to deliver 5G services such as extended reality and network slicing, which require instant availability and greater bandwidth capacity.

Nokia’s secure and cloud-native 5G core architecture, including packet core, strengthens O₂ Telefónica’s network with more flexible scaling, reliability and near zero-touch automation for moving and managing workloads.

The deployment underscores Nokia’s multi-cloud ability to migrate existing communication service providers (CSPs) to a range of cloud platform options including public, private and hybrid clouds, using their choice of cloud platforms and making it easier for CSPs to deploy applications and services on any infrastructure. 

Nokia’s 5G standalone core has a total of 107 CSP customers.

“We are building our network of the future,” said Mallik Rao, chief technology officer at O₂ Telefónica (www.telefonica.de). “With the launch of the new, cloud-based 5G core network, we are doing pioneering work in Europe and we are taking a major step in our transformation process. With the new 5G cloud core, we are moving away from traditional architectures and instead focusing on modern, high-performance and efficient network technologies. In doing so, we are relying on the quality and global expertise of Nokia and AWS. We offer our customers an excellent 5G experience and new digital applications.”

Fabio Cerone, general manager for telecoms in Emea at AWS (aws.amazon.com), added: “We’re thrilled to be selected for the 5G cloud core network deployment of O₂ Telefónica and to realise their vision of the network of the future. By using Nokia’s 5G core network on AWS, O₂ Telefónica is redefining its operating model through full automation and elasticity at scale. It will bring O₂ Telefónica the ability to dynamically scale and allocate 5G network capabilities to meet customer needs, as well as the needs of the new applications that will run on top of the new core.”

And Raghav Sahgal, president of cloud and network services at Nokia (www.nokia.com), said: “We are delighted to support O₂ Telefónica Germany’s move onto AWS. This deployment, the first major one of its kind for an existing communication service provider, enables greater network agility and service offerings, and provides Telefónica Germany with all the tools it needs to efficiently manage and extract greater value from its network assets. The deployment underscores Nokia’s multi-cloud ability to migrate communication service providers to the public cloud, making it practical for them to deploy applications and services on the infrastructure of their choice and, with more flexible scaling, reliability and near zero-touch automation.”