Telefónica is all in on autonomous networking

• Like many operators, Telefónica is working towards the introduction of Level 4 autonomous networking 
• For the telco’s CTIO, this is a broad and challenging task that is happening at different rates across multiple Telefónica markets
• Andrea Folgueiras says there is a major focus on looking at automation as an end-to-end process that involves the reskilling of the telco’s employees

Like many of its telco peers, Telefónica is striving to introduce automation into its commercial network operations and, also in common with others, it is aiming to achieve Level 4 in the TM Forum’s six-step autonomous network (AN) levels taxonomy. 

Unusually, though, Telefónica has specified its autonomous networks roadmap in its current 2026-30 industrial plan, dubbed Transform & Grow, which comprises six strategic pillars.

One of those pillars is focused on the evolution of the telco’s technology capabilities, including the deployment of new capabilities, such as AI and edge computing, a plan to prioritise return on investment (ROI) through the use of agentic AI, and “the evolution of automation using Al to reduce manual interventions”. 

Specifically, the aim is to achieve Level 4 in three of its four main markets – Spain, Brazil and Germany – by 2030. 

In addition, the operator isn’t just aiming to introduce automated processes to certain tasks or domains – it’s aiming for end-to-end automation, explained Telefónica’s chief technology and information officer (CTIO), Andrea Folgueiras, at the recent DTW Ignite 2026 event in Copenhagen. Folgueiras has been in the CTIO role since the end of March 2025, when she succeeded Enrique Blanco. 

Folgueiras told TelecomTV: “It’s a journey… the scope of the programme is not [network] operations only – it’s all the processes, from design, planning, through to the operations. I stress that because there are some companies and some operators in the world that [for example] only focus on fault management or only focus on [something else]. We go through all the layers of the network – from the mobile access, the fixed access, the transport and the IP [routing], the core, the cloud and all the processes. We use the TM Forum framework, and we look at the complete metrics – we look into each and every one of the boxes,” noted the CTIO. 

But it’s a complex transformation, especially for operators that are still seeking to migrate away from legacy technologies. “You cannot be autonomous using a process that was built 10 years ago,” she noted.    

Folgueiras went on to discuss the impact of the telco’s autonomous networks strategy on staff and skills, relationships with vendor partners, and much more, which you can read in TelecomTV’s latest free-to-download editorial report, Network Automation for the AI-Native Telco.

The 15-page editorial report provides insights into the automated network advances being made by key telecom operators from around the world. As well as a special section devoted to Telefónica, it includes updates on the views, plans and AI-related deployments of seven other operators, including AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, and VodafoneThree, and provides insights into how the TM Forum is helping telcos to track their automated network progress. 

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV