O2 Telefónica Germany and Google Cloud Partner to Move 5G Functions to the Cloud with Nokia

Collaboration harnesses Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) for resilient, high-performance, cloud-native 5G deployment of Nokia's Policy Control Functions, ushering in a new era of customer experience

MUNICH and SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- O₂ Telefónica in Germany and Google Cloud today announced their intent to enter into a strategic partnership to drive the cloud transformation of O₂ Telefonica's 5G network, collaborating closely with Nokia. Based on the successful cooperation on charging solutions for mobile customers, O₂ Telefónica now wants to expand its collaboration and considers to move further 5G functions like Nokia's Policy Control Functions to Google Cloud. Using Google Cloud's modern infrastructure, this partnership is going to enable O₂ Telefónica to accelerate the deployment of cloud-native 5G functions and telecom workloads, delivering resilient, high-performance 5G services with lower latency and higher reliability for its customers.

The rollout of 5G presents both immense opportunities and significant challenges for communication service providers (CSPs). To fully capitalize on 5G's potential, CSPs need to move beyond traditional, monolithic architectures and embrace cloud-native, software-defined networks. O₂ Telefónica is starting its transformation journey by migrating Nokia's Policy Control Functions to Google Cloud, which is essential for managing the network, setting the rules, and using up-to-the-minute information to make the network run as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

"We are building the mobile network of the future and now are taking the next innovative step by bringing further network functions and telecom workloads to the cloud," said Mallik Rao, chief technology and enterprise business officer, O₂ Telefónica in Germany. "This work with Google Cloud and Nokia is a significant step in O₂ Telefónica's technology transformation. We have already gained valuable experience with Google Cloud and are now extending this collaboration. By embracing cloud-native solutions, we are modernizing our network to deliver the next generation of 5G services to our customers."

Google Cloud's modern infrastructure services, including Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), play a pivotal role in this transformation by providing a secure, scalable, and highly available platform for deploying and managing mission-critical 5G workloads. GKE's advanced capabilities enable accelerated migration of network function workloads with minimal adaptations. This will allow O₂ Telefónica to confidently run its essential 5G operations on Google Cloud, providing a reliable base for its 5G plans and making it faster to introduce new and innovative services.

O₂ Telefónica's selection of Google Cloud followed a rigorous evaluation process. Working closely with Nokia, O₂ Telefónica found that Google Cloud provided an environment that facilitated seamless onboarding of new customers and addressed critical security requirements.

"At Google Cloud, we are committed to empowering CSPs with the technology they need to succeed in the 5G era and beyond," said Thomas Kurian, chief executive officer, Google Cloud. "Our planned work with O₂ Telefónica in Germany and Nokia demonstrates our ability to meet CSPs where they are, providing them with the cloud infrastructure and solutions to modernize their networks, drive innovation, and deliver exceptional experiences to their customers."

"Nokia is pleased to join forces with O₂ Telefónica and Google Cloud to pioneer the next generation of 5G core networks," said Raghav Sahgal, president of Cloud and Network Services, Nokia. "Nokia's market-leading 5G cloud-native, multi-cloud core technology, including our advanced Policy Control Functions, will give O₂ Telefónica greater agility essential for managing and automating capabilities of modern networks, and accelerating the delivery of innovative 5G services."

About O₂ Telefónica in Germany

O₂ Telefónica is a leading full-service provider of telecommunications services for private and business customers. The portfolio of the core brand O₂ and various secondary and partner brands includes traditional telephony and internet connections as well as innovative digital services in the area of the Internet of Things and data analysis. In mobile communications, O₂ Telefónica manages more than 45 million mobile lines (incl. M2M - as at 31.12.2024). No network operator connects more people in this country. The company's high-performance and award-winning mobile network reaches more than 99 percent of the population. In the fixed network, O₂ Telefónica offers its customers leading technological diversity and geographical availability in Germany. In the 2024 financial year, the company generated revenue of 8.5 billion euros with around 7,500 employees. The company is majority-owned by the Spanish telecommunications group Telefónica S.A., based in Madrid, one of the largest telecommunications groups in the world.

About Google Cloud

Google Cloud is the new way to the cloud, providing AI, infrastructure, developer, data, security, and collaboration tools built for today and tomorrow. Google Cloud offers a powerful, fully integrated and optimized AI stack with its own planet-scale infrastructure, custom-built chips, generative AI models and development platform, as well as AI-powered applications, to help organizations transform. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted technology partner.

About Nokia

At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.

As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, which is celebrating 100 years of innovation.

With truly open architectures that seamlessly integrate into any ecosystem, our high-performance networks create new opportunities for monetization and scale. Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today – and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future.

SOURCE Google Cloud