Telefónica, the prominent Spanish telecom operator, has chosen Nokia to supply its 4G and 5G core network services for enterprises in Spain. This partnership will facilitate the deployment of low-latency solutions such as drone fleets, industrial robots, and sophisticated IoT applications. Nokia’s cloud-native software solutions will be integrated into Telefónica’s telco cloud, also implemented as packet core appliances for various business premises.
By the end of 2024, Nokia had become the leading vendor with the most operator customers for standalone 5G core networks. It has been supplying Telefónica with an array of technologies including 5G radio network hardware and fiber-optic technologies. In addition, Telefónica will use Nokia’s cloud gateway and mediation services to efficiently route enterprise user traffic.
Erez Sverdlov, Nokia’s vice president for cloud and network services in Europe, emphasized the benefits this will bring, highlighting improved data capacity, latency, security, and a local breakout of user traffic.
In parallel, Telefónica is advancing its quantum strategy by cooperating with the government of Biscay, aiming to position the region as a global quantum technology hub. The BasQ Alliance has emerged as a local research and development force involving various stakeholders like universities and corporations.
Telefónica’s decade-long research journey in quantum technologies forms the backbone of this ambitious strategy. The firm plans substantial breakthroughs in numerous sectors such as finance, energy, and telecommunications. Under this framework, Telefónica will house Fujitsu’s Digital Annelaer at its Biscay office, touted as the world’s first quantum-inspired digital technology architecture outside Japan.
Through this initiative, Telefónica aims to simulate quantum circuits using high-performance computing techniques. Manuel Ángel Alonso, northern territory director for Telefónica Spain, remarked on the project’s dual importance: addressing potential risks while capitalizing on forthcoming opportunities in quantum computing.
