Telefónica UK has begun the first phase of migrating services to its new Fusión Network infrastructure.

The company is working to combine legacy networks into a single, new IP network that is more efficient, flexible and automated, to pave the way for 5G roll-out and to improve customer experience.

Telefónica is working with Juniper Networks as the IP network provider.  The operator hopes to reap a number of benefits from the deployment of Juniper’s PTX Series Packet Transport Routers, the MX Series 5G Universal Routing Platform, Junos Fusion Edge, Junos Node Slicing virtualisation and Juniper’s Automation Framework, including reduced network complexity, greater agility and faster time-to-market for new services. Better visibility of operations should enhance security. The vendor is also installing and maintaining the new hardware and services.

A similar initiative has already been implemented by the Telefónica Group in other regions around the world, including a recent upgrade in Spain to support the evolution to 5G.

Preparing for 5G

Brendan O’Reilly, Chief Technology Officer, Telefónica UK, said, “As we prepare for our 5G roll-out from October 2019 with the end goal of building a 5G economy in coalition with British industry, we need a network infrastructure that benefits customers from the outset, with better speeds, intelligent security and improved user experience.

“This requires a network that is sophisticated, but also simpler to deploy, operate and maintain, which is why we chose Juniper as our strategic IP network provider. This overhaul of our network provides the flexibility, scalability and performance to meet those demands.”

Manoj Leelanivas, Chief Product Officer, Juniper Networks, added, “As one of the major service providers in the UK, Telefónica UK is a true trailblazer of cutting-edge network technology.

“This project is expected to help Telefónica UK transform its network, providing an automated and scalable network that is capable of meeting current and future demands of consumers and business customers alike. It will help to ensure that Telefónica UK will continue to deliver the robust performance its users expect and be sufficiently agile to lead the way on new service innovation.”