Telefónica UK, O2’s parent company, is working on the network transformation project to prepare the company to provide the best O2 5G service it can. The project involves combining legacy infrastructure and building a new IP network.
The UK network is not the first one to receive the update treatment. For example, in Spain, the project recently included an upgrade to support 5G. And it's now apparent that Telefónica is working on upgrading networks worldwide in order to fully support 5G.
“Better speeds, intelligent security and improved UX"
In the UK, the network upgrade project has just completed its first stage. This stage saw services migrated to the Fusión Network. This new IP network is said to be much more efficient and automated. This will allow O2 to offer much better customer experiences.
The new IP network is using equipment and services supplied by Juniper Networks.
“As we prepare for our 5G rollout from October 2019 with the end goal of building a 5G economy in coalition with British industry."
Brendan O’Reilly, Telefónica UK.
“As we prepare for our 5G rollout 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," explains Brendan O’Reilly, Chief Technology Officer, Telefónica UK. "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.”
Preparing for 5G
Telefónica wants the upgrade to make its networks less complex and more flexible, which will allow new services to be delivered to the market at a much faster rate. This will give O2 the opportunity to lead the 5G race and keep on top of its competitors with a super-fast network.
As many network operators prepare for 5G, they all seem to share one common goal, flexibility and agile service delivery. Thankfully, as O2 prepares for the upgrade now, it will be very well-equipped to adopt 5G next year.
O2 plans to launch 5G this month in six cities, Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, London and Slough.
