O2 Telefonica Raves Over AI Data Tool’s Results

Munich-based O2 Telefonica, which boasts a wireless customer connection count of more than 45 million, is offering rave reviews on the payoffs from its investments last year to test and deploy advanced artificial intelligence capabilities in its networks that better predict capacity utilization across its nearly 30,000 cell towers.

“Thanks to advanced artificial intelligence (AI), the network technicians make more precise predictions about the development of mobile data usage of the 45 million customers at each location,” the company said in a Jan. 23 release.

“This enables more precise capacity planning, targeted investments and optimized network expansion for a better customer experience,” the carrier said.

O2 Telefonica’s bottom line finding from the investment: “the AI ​​delivers twice as many correct predictions with over 90 percent accuracy as the previous planning tools.”

The AI tool – which is based on an AI development platform from Google Cloud – is being used to analyze data usage from the carrier’s 28,000 cell sites.

That analysis includes measuring current and historical usage data from each site and taking into account other big factors including tariff changes and direction from the carrier’s long-term business forecast.

On the data front, that’s no small order. O2 Telefonica said the AI-powered software can analyze 250 gigabytes of data in “just a few minutes.”

“After half a day of intensive calculations, the network engineers receive a precise forecast of how mobile data usage will develop in the coming months and years,” and that analysis is performed in detail for each of the 28,000 cell sites, O2 Telefonica said.

“Conventional programs take weeks to do this,” the carrier said.

“By using artificial intelligence in the telecommunications industry, we are setting new standards in network expansion and network planning,” said Mallik Rao, chief technology and enterprise office at O2 Telefonica. “Artificial intelligence helps us to gain sound insights and make accurate predictions.”

In this way, we are expanding our network capacities in a targeted manner,” Rao said, adding, “we are expanding where our customers receive real added value. This means they experience a first-class internet and telephone experience.”