Wipro, Telefónica to offer network automation through CI/CD/CT

Wipro Limited has entered into an agreement with Spanish telecom company Telefónica with an aim to begin the latter’s transformation towards network operations by introducing continuous integration, continuous deployment and continuous testing (CI/CD/CT) in its German and Brazilian markets.

The introduction of CI/CD/CT is likely to be expanded to Spain and the UK as well.

According to Wipro, vendors have adopted a CI/CD/CT-based approach in their industrialization processes, which is drastically increasing the amount of product launches as well as the number of tests. Operators must be extremely agile to meet the demands of this challenge without compromising the appropriate quality performance, scalability, as well as time-to-market.

Telefonica plans to utilize a common CI/CD/CT framework for all markets, that can be locally implemented to address specific local integration requirements with the help of Wipro. This will ease collaboration among Telefonica OpCos, thereby enabling sharing of design, parametrization or configuration, test plans and results.

The solution, which will be developed by the Indian IT services provider, will be built using opensource tools that are open to evolution to allow quick adaptation to any technological developments in the future. Common repository testing instruments will be utilized with the potential for future integration into the pipeline CI/CD/CT, said Wipro.

Wipro, Telefónica to offer network automation through adoption of CI/CD/CT. Photo courtesy of Telefónica S.A.

Thomas Mueller — Wipro CTO of Engineering and R&D Services said: “Network disaggregation, O-RAN and automation are at the core of our investments to enable cost efficient, scalable networks of the future. Our decade long partnership with Telefonica is continuing to thrive through this agreement.

“Wipro will now leverage our investments into open-source based network automation and support Telefonica in future network transformation.”

The Indian IT firm will collaborate with Telefonica to automate the related network operations and, consequently will facilitate the move to Telco Cloud as well as the implementation of virtualized network functions. This framework will enable automation of this process and help cope with the increasing quantity and complexity of network functions while sticking to an agile working method, said Wipro.

While the starting target of the companies is the 5G Core Network, the plan is to extend the solution to other areas like transport, infrastructure, and access.

In addition, Telefonica and Wipro will cooperate in the implementation and integration of the CI/CD/CT framework in the Telefonica Technology & Automation Lab in Madrid.

Wipro will help Telefonica in the implementation of various use cases over Telco Cloud environments. The Indian IT firm will develop an automated and programable environment that is based on artificial intelligence/machine learning where both partners will collaborate to achieve zero-touch testing of networks and deployment without the need for maintenance.

Thomas Braun — Telefónica Germany Manager of Test Environments & Integration said: “Agile working methods and delivery mechanisms will play an important role in the future to be a successful player in the market.

“With Wipro, we have chosen a service provider that can build converged solutions for us to optimally serve all technology segments. Fast, reliable and standardized automation of all tasks from build to production will improve our time to market as well as service quality.”