- Telefónica, in collaboration with AWS and Nokia, has successfully made the first 5G standalone (SA) call using a hybrid cloud architecture in Europe.
- This achievement demonstrates the potential of hybrid cloud solutions for 5G networks, combining on-premises and public cloud resources.
What happened: Telefónica’s hybrid cloud breakthrough
Telefónica has taken a big step forward in the telecom industry. It successfully made what it says is Europe’s first 5G standalone (SA) call using a hybrid cloud setup. This was done with the help of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Nokia. Nokia’s Cloud RAN workloads ran on AWS services. These services were hosted at Telefónica’s Madrid office and in AWS’ Spanish cloud region. Nokia’s RAN Distributed Unit (DU) software was on an AWS EC2 instance. It used AWS’ Graviton CPU. The RAN Centralised Unit (CU) was hosted on an EC2 instance in AWS’ Aragón region.
This configuration enabled the radio network to use both public and on-premises cloud infrastructure. José Luis Esplá, Telefónica’s director of access and devices, said the goal was to validate the hybrid cloud infrastructure and make 5G networks more flexible and programmable. Amir Rao from AWS and Aji Ed from Nokia also expressed their commitment to driving innovation and supporting the cloud transformation of radio access networks.
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Why it’s important:
Telefónica, AWS, and Nokia’s achievement is a major step forward in the evolution of 5G networks. Deploying 5G SA RAN over a hybrid cloud architecture shows the potential for greater flexibility and scalability in mobile networks. By using both on-premises and public cloud resources, operators can optimize network performance, reduce costs, and quickly deploy new services.
This hybrid approach also addresses concerns about public telco cloud adoption, proving that it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing solution. As one of Europe’s leading telcos, Telefónica’s initiative sets a precedent for other operators to explore similar hybrid cloud strategies. With the growing demand for 5G services and the need for more efficient network management, this collaboration offers valuable insights into the future of cloud-based telecom infrastructure.
