AI-powered automated operations demand continuous data, making horizontal telco clouds essential for telecom carriers today.
Managing telecom networks grows more complex by the day. Operators are redesigning infrastructure to adopt the platform-based models common across the wider technology sector.
Franz Seiser, Tribe Head of T-DAT (Technology, Development, and Architecture Team) at Deutsche Telekom, explains that the company is replacing traditional vertical silos with horizontal layers to build its telco cloud. While the resulting infrastructure still delivers fully 3GPP-compliant networks, the production method is entirely different.
Powering AI and automated operations with real-time data
AI relies heavily on vast quantities of dependable information. Older vertical systems often restrict collection rates, sometimes yielding just a single data point every five minutes. Seiser notes this low frequency cannot adequately support AI. Modern network automation requires real-time data continuously generated from all system components.
Deploying a horizontal telco cloud platform establishes this continuous pipeline and directly improves business resilience. Any improvement made to the underlying platform instantly benefits all connected applications. Adopting a shared-resource approach allows carriers to benefit from system-wide optimisations rather than isolating improvements within individual silos.
Building this environment means separating the deployment into three distinct tiers: infrastructure, application, and automation. Automation is integrated directly into the initial design rather than appended later, serving as the main differentiator for service stability and security.
Achieving this requires major changes in how operators interact with their suppliers. Vendors who previously delivered complete end-to-end vertical silos are now asked to supply only specific subsets of the stack. This adjustment demands intense negotiations to ensure the selected components integrate properly.
Nokia, a supplier for Deutsche Telekom, has been adapting its own portfolio to be fully cloud-native to participate in these new environments. Jean Lawrence from Nokia views this shared platform approach as an industry blueprint that creates a more IT-oriented, agile network.
Overcoming internal cultural barriers to build horizontal telco clouds
Beyond technical integration, dismantling silos requires extensive organisational changes. Historically, dedicated teams managed entire vertical stacks, handling everything from hardware to vendor relationships. Staff must now adapt to platform-focused teams with updated governance models.
Seiser highlights that employees naturally aimed to perfect their specific areas in the past. “They optimised, of course, their silo. But as we all know, local optimums are not the global optimums,” he explains.
To ensure long-term return on investment and compliance, executives must enforce new architectural rules strictly. Seiser advises leaders to execute their plans without exceptions. “Don’t compromise because as soon as you start with the first compromise … the fifth is coming, and then you are in a not-so-easy to manage environment,” he states.
Committing fully to the horizontal telco cloud model provides the necessary foundation for advanced automation and future revenue generation.
See also: How Indosat is scaling AI-RAN across its network
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