The Spanish-based telecom will focus on E2E customer experience
HONG KONG – Within the next five years, Spanish telecommunications operator Telefónica will focus its efforts on the development of mobile technology in order to improve the quality of its video offering in its mobile and fixed networks, paving the way for the future launch of “5G” technologies, the company’s CTO, Enrique Blanco, said during Huawei’s Global Mobile Broadband Forum 2015, which took place in Hong Kong recently.
Blanco said network connectivity is a key differentiator, and that Telefónica’s main ambition is to offer the best connection for all the products, effectively assuring the best end-to-end customer experience.
According to the executive, the focus on connectivity, including coverage, capacity and latency, will allow the Spanish telco to offer a distinctive experience to its customers and be ready to manage the exponential data growth in the coming years.
Blanco said that Telefónica has already launched LTE-A networks and that small cells are already operating in the company’s 3G and 4G networks. “Core and RAN Virtualization will be key enablers to increase network capacity,” the executive said.
The executive also said that Telefónica has already launched Voice over LTE technology in its operation in Germany during the first quarter of this year and that this technology will be commercially available in other operations during 2016.
Commenting on Telefónica’s strategy toward the future implementation of 5G, Blanco said that the European operator is currently performing tests in the innovation field and increasing industry alliances.
According to Telefónica’s vision, in 2020, LTE technology will be well-established; 3G data traffic will be declining in favor of LTE – especially in Europe – while 2G traffic will migrate to 3G and LTE networks.
The European telco ended September with a total of 321 million subscribers in its global operation. Mobile telephony subscribers amounted to 251.4 million at the end of the third quarter, up 11.6% year-on-year. In the 4G LTE segment, Telefónica reached 23.6 million subscribers at the end of the quarter, reaching a penetration of 9.7% in its overall mobile base.
Smartphone users reached over 108 million by the end of Q3, up 52.3% year-on-year.
