Telefonica Germany Teams Up with Amazon Web Services to Migrate 5G Customers

Telefonica Germany announced plans to migrate one million of its 5G customers to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud by the end of this month. This strategic shift, revealed by company executives to Reuters, marks a foray by the U.S. eCommerce giant into the global telecoms market.

While several telecom networks have previously transitioned non-core operations to public clouds, this move by Telefonica’s subsidiary represents a global first. The decision to transfer the core network, responsible for securely routing data and calls at high speeds, to a public cloud underscores a significant milestone in the convergence of telecommunications and cloud computing.

Mallik Rao, Chief Technology & Information Officer at O2 Telefonica, expressed cautious optimism, stating, “I want to see it working for at least one to two quarters and have a roadmap to move at least 30-40% of my customer base by 2025-2026.” Financial details of the deal between AWS and O2 Telefonica were not disclosed.

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The migration to AWS cloud is expected to yield several benefits, including cost reduction, increased scalability and streamlined maintenance procedures without service disruption. As the network increasingly relies on software-defined infrastructure, traditional players face mounting pressure to adapt to the disruptive influence of tech giants.

Analyst Paolo Pescatore at PP Foresight commented, “As the network becomes more defined by software, traditional players need to up the ante to keep up with the threat of the big tech.” He noted that the term “frenemy” may become more prevalent in industry discourse, reflecting the complex relationship between established telecom operators and tech behemoths.

The move mirrors the pioneering initiative undertaken by U.S.-based Dish in 2021, which utilized AWS cloud for its core network. Jan Hofmeyr, Vice President at AWS, highlighted the comparative ease of integration for Dish, given its lack of pre-existing systems requiring modification.