Telefonica UK has selected Ciena’s technology to migrate legacy traffic onto a new packet network capable of supporting 5G, IoT and other next-generation applications.
This upgrade will help Telefonica UK introduce innovative network automation capabilities and obtain greater control of its network, which provides more than 34.8 million connections.

Ciena’s technology will enable Telefonica UK to move its Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) infrastructure to a next-generation Adaptive IP network, better positioning the service provider to address customer needs and support the growing digital economy.

Telefonica UK will be using Ciena Services and 6500 Packet Transport System (PTS) in order to migrate Telefonica UK’s legacy TDM traffic to a modern packet network. Ciena’s 6500 PTS will allow Telefonica UK to support remaining TDM customers while also addressing new, high-growth applications across a single, converged packet-based transport network.

In addition, Ciena’s Manage, Control and Plan (MCP) domain controller will give Telefonica UK real-time visibility into its network to proactively identify and prevent potential issues.

“Migrating to a modernized network capable of automated services is necessary as we continue to develop 5G and IoT applications,” Jorge Ribeiro, head of Infrastructure, Telefonica UK, said.