Elisa Oyj and Google Cloud Expand Collaboration to Deliver AI-Driven Autonomous Networks

Elisa Oyj, a leading telecommunications operator in Finland, and Google Cloud announced an expanded collaboration to enable the company to implement AI-driven autonomous network operations. Elisa will use Google Cloud's Autonomous Network Operations framework, including data and AI tools, to shift from predictive to prescriptive analytics and AI-driven proactive management of its network, ultimately enhancing efficiency, resilience, and the customer experience. Elisa is at the forefront of developing an AI-driven network, and this collaboration marks the next crucial step in its journey towards achieving world-leading network autonomy. This work builds upon Elisa's highly automated network platform, the Elisa Defined Network (EDN), which serves as a crucial enabler for the company's path to the next level network autonomy. The telecommunications industry faces increasing complexity from rapid data growth, new technologies like 5G, and constant demand from users for faster, more reliable services. Manually managing these vast networks is no longer efficient enough, leading to higher operational costs, slower service deployment, and a greater risk of human error.

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To achieve an "agentic telco network" – an advanced, self-managing, and self-optimizing telecommunications network – Elisa is using Google Cloud's BigQuery data warehouse and Spanner database to consolidate and manage its network data. Elisa is also utilizing Google Cloud's Vertex AI, a unified AI development platform, and Google's Gemini models to build and train agents. The company is building agents using Google Cloud's Agent Development Kit (ADK) and then connecting them together as multi-agent systems with Google's open source-based Agent-to-Agent (A2A) protocol. These agents will be tailored to specific Elisa workflows, enabling predictive analytics, automated diagnostics, and prescriptive actions across the network. The strategic cooperation aims to extend intelligent automation across all parts of Elisa's  telecommunications network, including the systems that carry data, the central processing hubs, and the wireless connections that reach mobile devices. This autonomous network will deliver the below capabilities to Elisa and its customers:

• Zero-touch operations: The network will largely run itself, automating all routine tasks to minimize manual effort.
• Smart, goal-driven network: The network will understand and automatically execute high-level business goals, adapting without needing constant manual instructions.
• Self-healing and optimizing: AI will enable Elisa's network to detect and fix issues proactively, and continuously improve its performance.
• Predictive insights: Advanced analytics and AI will help Elisa anticipate potential problems before they impact services.
• Improving operational efficiency: With an AI-enabled network, Elisa will be able to achieve world-leading network efficiency, reducing operational costs.
• Faster innovation: The autonomous approach will enable Elisa to rapidly deploy new services and features, such as 5G applications, accelerating time-to-market.

"We are incredibly excited to embark on this next phase of our partnership with Google Cloud, focusing on the ambitious goal of AI-driven autonomous networks," said Sami Komulainen, chief operating officer, Elisa. "This strategic cooperation is designed to not only elevate our own network capabilities to a world-leading standard, but also to foster new innovations that will benefit our customers through unprecedented levels of operational efficiency and service agility." "Our deepened collaboration is all about empowering Elisa to deliver an even better experience for its customers," said Muninder Singh Sambi, vice president and general manager of Networking and Security, Google Cloud. "By working hand-in-hand with Elisa, we're helping the company advance towards a future where its network is fully autonomous, intelligently managing itself to deliver more reliable services, faster innovation, and a seamless digital experience for everyone. We're committed to supporting Elisa in achieving its vision of a sustainable future through digitalization." SOURCE: PRNewswire