Telefónica has successfully completed Europe’s first 5G Standalone (SA) call using a hybrid cloud-based Radio Access Network (RAN) architecture. The milestone, achieved with Nokia’s Cloud RAN solution on Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure, marks a significant step toward cloud-native mobile networks. The validation took place at Telefónica’s Madrid headquarters and AWS’s Spain Region in Aragón, demonstrating the ability to host 5G RAN workloads across on-premises and public cloud environments. This approach enables low-latency, high-bandwidth 5G connectivity while offering greater flexibility and automation in network operations.
The collaboration between Telefónica, Nokia, and AWS focuses on leveraging Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) and Nokia’s advanced 5G RAN capabilities to simplify network operations and improve performance. Telefónica is running Nokia’s RAN Distributed Unit (DU) software on an Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instance powered by AWS Graviton, an Arm-based CPU. Additionally, the RAN Centralized Unit (CU) is deployed in AWS’s Spain Region, demonstrating a cloud continuum model where network functions operate across hundreds of kilometers. The cloud-based approach allows automated network configuration, lifecycle management, and seamless integration of edge and core network components.
The hybrid architecture ensures that Telefónica can place workloads in different locations based on latency and network transport requirements, offering a scalable and efficient cloud-native 5G network. The companies will continue exploring new AI-driven automation solutions, cloud-based observability, and expanded edge computing capabilities to enhance 5G programmability, resilience, and service delivery. Telefónica’s cloud transformation journey aligns with its goal of building a fully software-centric network that can support future AI-driven and 6G applications.
• Telefónica, Nokia, and AWS completed Europe’s first 5G SA call using a hybrid cloud-based RAN.
• The validation took place at Telefónica’s Madrid HQ and AWS’s Spain Region in Aragón.
• Nokia’s Cloud RAN runs on AWS’s cloud infrastructure, combining on-premises and public cloud services.
• The architecture supports low-latency, high-bandwidth 5G workloads across vast geographic distances.
• Future collaboration will focus on AI-driven automation, network slicing, and cloud-native 5G evolution.
“This innovative project with Telefónica is another example of our anyRAN approach where we work with strategic partners such as AWS to bring together best-in-class partner solutions to offer true flexibility and scalability to our customers,” said Aji Ed, Head of Cloud RAN at Nokia. “Nokia is helping its customers on their cloudification journey by leading the fusion of AI, RAN, and Cloud, which is helping to drive innovation and new business models supporting monetization.”
