• O2 Telefónica explores multiple uses of quantum technology
• AWS and Tech Mahindra team up on telco network automation 
• T-Mobile US repelled recent cyberattacks, claims CSO

In today’s industry news roundup: German telco O2 Telefónica is working with AWS and others to see how quantum technology can better secure and optimise its network; Tech Mahindra and AWS are jointly developing an AI-enabled Autonomous Networks Operations Platform; T-Mobile US claims it thwarted a recent attempted cyberattack, despite media reports suggesting otherwise; and much more!

O2 Telefónica (aka Telefónica Deutschland) has teamed up with Amazon Web Services (AWS), its parent company, giant Spanish telco Telefónica (including its digital division Telefónica Tech) and the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), for a pilot programme that will explore the potential use of quantum technologies in planning, optimising and securing mobile networks. According to the operator, the pilot, which is building on multiple lines of quantum technology R&D undertaken by Telefónica’s Technology and Automation Lab in Madrid during the past decade, represents one of the first coordinated efforts globally to test multiple quantum technologies in a cloud environment. Mallik Rao (pictured above), who recently expanded his role at the German operator to become chief technology & enterprise officer at O2 Telefónica, stated: “We are entering the quantum age of digital networking. Quantum physics will enhance digital communication. With our pilot project, we are taking a significant step towards quantum-safe mobile networks of the future. We are creating the necessary conditions today to leverage quantum technologies and their possibilities in our O2 network for the benefit of our customers… The question is no longer whether quantum-based encryption will be required, but when. With this pilot project, we are looking ahead and testing the necessary technology in real-life use in the network today. We are implementing quantum technologies on AWS because they can be applied there more efficiently and quickly than building our own infrastructure. We can also combine quantum-safe connections more easily with the increasingly cloudified telecommunications services,” added Rao, who is also a member of TelecomTV’s DSP Leaders Council. Prof. Vicente Martin, director of the UPM research group on quantum information, added: “Quantum communications technology is extremely demanding due to the need to deal with single-quantum signals. This pilot shows how QKD [quantum key distribution] technology can be usefully integrated in a very complex production network to secure real-world use-cases.” AWS is the natural cloud partner for O2 Telefónica’s pilot as it is the host platform for the German operator’s Nokia-developed 5G core system, which has been up and running for six months. “Quantum technologies have the potential to transform telecommunications networks, enhancing security, optimizing infrastructure, and unlocking new capabilities,” noted Matt Rehder, VP of core networking at AWS. “By working closely with telecommunications companies like O2 Telefónica and leading academic institutions, we’re turning cutting-edge research into practical solutions. The AWS Cloud provides powerful tools to explore and integrate these innovations, building a secure and efficient foundation for the 6G networks of tomorrow that will power a vast array of digital services for consumers and enterprises alike,” added Rehder. To find out how O2 Telefónica is checking out how to use quantum computing to calculate the optimal placement for its mobile towers, and how it is exploring the use of QKD and post-quantum cryptography (PQC) to develop its quantum-safe networking strategy, read this extensive press release.  

AWS is busy in telecom circles right now… It has signed a multi-year Strategic Collaboration Agreement (SCA) with Tech Mahindra to develop an Autonomous Networks Operations Platform (ANOP) designed for telcos and enterprises. The resulting Tech Mahindra ANOP is being developed using AI, machine learning (ML) and generative AI (GenAI) applications “powered by AWS, enabling customers to transition their network operations from an on-premises infrastructure to a real-time proactive and preventive model operating on a hybrid cloud”, according to the Indian tech giant. Specifically, the ANOP combines Tech Mahindra’s GenAI capabilities and telecom networking know-how with Amazon SageMaker, which is a service for building, training, and deploying ML models “for any industry use case with fully managed infrastructure, tools, and workflows”. Tech Mahindra is making bold claims for the impact of the ANOP, stating that it will boost telco network operations centre (NOC) productivity for teams managing physical and cloud infrastructure by more than 50%, reduce field visits by more than 15%, shortens mean time to repair (MTTR) for network and service incidents by more than 30%, and cuts the time and effort required for the implementation of network and service configurations by up to 30%. Manish Mangal, CTO, Telecom & Global Business Head, Network Services at Tech Mahindra, stated: "The communications industry is at a pivotal junction of deploying disaggregated, virtualized and cloud-native RAN networks. Our collaboration with AWS empowers telcos to simplify operations, modernize networks, and unlock revenue through advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning. By integrating AWS’s GenAI, our Autonomous Networks Operations Platform delivers real-time insights, intelligent workflows, and supports Open RAN adoption for efficient, proactive network management.” Tech Mahindra is also testing and validating Open RAN distributed unit (DU) and centralised unit (CU) network functions on Amazon's EKS Anywhere (EKS-A) platform. Read more.  

T-Mobile US claims it has not suffered a breach of its systems as a result of the recent cyberattacks by Salt Typhoon hackers that have impacted multiple US telcos. “Many reports claim these bad actors have gained access to some providers’ customer information over an extended period of time – phone calls, text messages, and other sensitive information, particularly from government officials. This is not the case at T-Mobile,” the operator’s chief security officer (CSO) Jeff Simon stated in this blog. In order to counter “some misleading media reports,” Simon listed what T-Mobile US has seen and experienced, much of which we believe is different from what is being seen by other providers,” he stated. He noted that “within the last few weeks, we detected attempts to infiltrate our systems by bad actors. This originated from a wireline provider’s network that was connected to ours… Our defenses protected our sensitive customer information, prevented any disruption of our services, and stopped the attack from advancing. Bad actors had no access to sensitive customer data (including calls, voicemails or texts). We quickly severed connectivity to the provider’s network as we believe it was – and may still be – compromised. We do not see these or other attackers in our systems at this time,” noted the CSO. He added that T-Mobile US could not “definitively identify the attacker’s identity, whether Salt Typhoon or another similar group,” and that the telco’s findings have been reported to the US government. “Simply put, our defenses worked as designed – from our layered network design to robust monitoring and partnerships with third-party cyber security experts and a prompt response – to prevent the attackers from advancing and, importantly, stopped them from accessing sensitive customer information. Other providers may be seeing different outcomes,” he added. 

Patrick Drahi’s Altice France, otherwise known as French operator SFR, is shrinking. The operator, which is currently in negotiations with its lenders about how to restructure its €23.7bn of debt, reported a 4.7% year on year decline in third quarter revenues to €2.53bn, due mainly to a 10% decline in enterprise service revenues to €796m, and a 9.9% dip in EBITDA to €879m. It has just over 5 million fibre broadband customers (its fibre access network reaches 39.5 million premises) and 19.5 million mobile customers, down by more than 100,000 during the quarter. Altice France recently sold its 49% stake in MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) La Poste Telecom to rival Bouygues Telecom for an undisclosed sum, though the final proceeds are believed to be more than €500m, which only puts a small dent in the operator’s overall debt pile.  

About 5.5 billion people around the world now have internet access, up by 227 million from the end of 2023, according to statistics from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) that it has shared in its Facts and Figures 2024 publication. “While an estimated 68% of the global population is now online and all indicators tracked in the report show improvement, stubborn digital divides persist and about one-third of the world's people remain offline,” noted the United Nations body. ITU secretary-general Doreen Bogdan-Martin stated: “Facts and Figures 2024 is a tale of two digital realities between high-income and low-income countries. Stark gaps in critical connectivity indicators are cutting off the most vulnerable people from online access to information, education and employment opportunities. This report is a reminder that true progress in our interconnected world isn't just about how fast we move forward, but about making sure everyone moves forward together." Read more. 

Vodafone Group is one of the companies to have joined the quantum innovation accelerator initiative at UK state-funded industry body Digital Catapult, which is “aiming to help solve complex market challenges in major sectors of the UK economy including transport, defence and telecommunications” by bringing together “unique quantum capabilities and innovation consultancy to de-risk technology adoption.” The Quantum Technology Access Programme is part of a broader project called ‘Quantum Data Centre of the Future’ which aims to embed a quantum computer within a classical datacentre to explore real-world access to quantum technologies. Dr Chloe Ai, Quantum researcher at Vodafone Group R&D, said: “We’re excited to join the Quantum Technology Access Programme to further deepen our quantum knowledge and explore how quantum computing can enhance optimisation challenges like the Steiner Tree problem. This programme will provide valuable insights as we look to leverage quantum computing in areas such as machine learning and combinatorial optimisation.” Read more. 

– The staff, TelecomTV