To meet future 5G demands and enable use cases like network slicing, Telefónica Deutschland sought to move to an open, automated network that enabled them to reduce costs, avoid vendor lock-in, and better serve its customers.

In preparation for escalating data traffic and bandwidth demands, the operator selected software from Blue Planet, a division of Ciena, to play a key role in the company’s iFusion program, which uses software-defined networking (SDN) to transform its transport network and improve the customer experience. Additionally, Blue Planet Multi-Domain Service Orchestration (MDSO) allows the operator to rapidly create, deploy and automate end-to-end service delivery across its new multi-vendor transport network. Blue Planet simplifies the operation of Telefónica Deutschland’s multi-vendor optical network, enabling lower OPEX while optimizing its network to offer next generation 5G services such as high-bandwidth video streaming, VR/AR and rich online gaming.

“Telefónica is moving away from legacy single-vendor platforms to a model combining best-of-breed solutions from multiple vendors, enabling us to maintain diversity in our network and avoid depending on one vendor. In Germany, Blue Planet’s software executes our SDN program to allow not only multivendor transport, but also automation of our network.” - Cayetano Carbajo Martín, Global Director of Technology, Telefónica GCTIO.

Telefónica and Blue Planet were awarded FutureNet World’s Operator Award for the best example of a successful automation deployment.

Learn more about how Telefónica Deutschland is diversifying its network with Blue Planet here.