Telefónica made its first investment in its UK mobile business since the European Commission blocked a planned sale to CK Hutchison by extending its use of a Vasona Networks RAN congestion management product.
The U.S.-based mobile network capacity platform provider announced that Telefónica UK moved to a full deployment of its RAN product and a quality of service platform throughout London following a pilot of the products. Vasona Networks said the move will boost the performance of Telefónica UK's mobile data network in the capital city.
Telefónica UK originally trialled Vasona Networks' SmartAIR 1000 edge application controller and SmartVISION analysis suite on its 3G and 4G networks in the Greater London area, the platform provider stated.
Brendan O'Reilly, Telefónica O2 CTO, said the pilot delivered "network performance improvements during peak times of the day", which enabled the operator to deliver a "consistent experience" to its subscribers.
Vasona Networks explained that its SmartAIR product utilises dynamic rate control with feedback (DRCF) traffic management technology, which detects network congestion in cell sites and takes action to reduce any resulting latency. The company stated that the approach boosts the quality of experience for mobile users while also improving the performance of new RAN equipment.
SmartVISION is a software suite used to provide operators with a dashboard, metadata, and reports on real-time and historical quality of experience on individual cells, the company explained.
Biren Sood, Vasona Networks' CEO, said the collaboration with Telefónica in the UK "demonstrates the flexible capabilities of Vasona edge platforms" in terms of being capable of scaling "in response to evolving operator needs".
The platform provider is "helping mobile operators extract maximum performance out of networks that are being pushed to the brink by heavy consumer data demands" on a global basis, Sood added.
Telefónica still appears to have options to offload its O2 UK mobile business following the European Commission's decision earlier this month to block its planned deal with CK Hutchison.
The Telegraph last week reported that Ronan Dunne, CEO of O2 UK, is considering an £8.5 billion (€11.1 billion/$12.4 billion) management buyout of the operator with financing provided by private equity companies. This week, the UK broadsheet reported that private equity companies are courting pay-TV company Sky to join a bid to acquire the operator.
For more:
- see this Vasona Networks announcement
- read this Telegraph report on Dunne
- view this related Telegraph report on Sky
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