Vodafone And Nokia Develop Machine Learning System To Detect Mobile Network Anomalies

Vodafone, in partnership with Nokia, is introducing a new machine learning (ML) algorithm to its pan-European mobile networks to detect and correct anomalies before they impact customers.

This latest innovation is part of Vodafone’s strategy to deliver customers a ‘best on Vodafone’ experience through the introduction of new, more reliable and energy efficient digital technologies. Earlier this month, Vodafone switched its entire pan-European fixed and mobile networks over to electricity from 100% renewable sources.

Based on Nokia Bell Labs technology, the Anomaly Detection Service autonomously detects if a mobile cell area is showing out of the ordinary behaviour which, if allowed to go undetected for an extended period, could impact the quality of service to customers. It allows Vodafone engineers to address issues faster such as congestion at a mobile site, interference, unexpected latency, difficulty in handing calls between different cells or call setup failures.

In addition to detecting anomalies, the algorithm also identifies patterns of change to allow Vodafone’s operating companies to proactively address issues before they impact the customer. Once active, Vodafone expects the new service to support its ambition to automatically detect and address 80 per cent of all anomalous mobile network issues and capacity demands.

With support from Vodafone, Nokia’s Bell Labs algorithm has been tested on the live network to demonstrate its accuracy and to ensure that it works with equipment from all network vendors. Following the initial deployment in Italy on more than 60,000 4G cells, Vodafone will extend the service to all its European markets by early 2022.

Johan Wibergh, Chief Technology Officer for Vodafone, said: “We are building an automated and programmable network that can respond quickly to our customers’ needs. As we extend 5G across Europe, it is important to match the speed and responsiveness of this new technology with a great service. With machine learning, we can ensure a consistently high-quality performance that is as smart as the technology behind it.”

Nokia’s Anomaly Detection Service is being deployed on Vodafone’s Cloud platform to enable engineers to make fast and informed decisions based on secure and reliable data analytics, such as being able to boost capacity where customers need it most.

Raghav Sahgal, Nokia’s President of Cloud and Network Services, said: “We are pleased to celebrate the first commercial deployment of our solution with Vodafone, running on the public cloud. By analyzing network data our machine-learning algorithms can detect anomalies impacting network operations and performance, helping Vodafone engineers to pre-empt and rapidly resolve issues.”

Note to Editors

The solution runs natively on the public cloud, streaming data to Vodafone’s analytics platform, enabling the analysis of aggregated and anonymised network data from various points across multi-vendor environments all at once, rather than processing single variables independently.

As a result, the solution can extract temporal patterns from the analyzed system to categorise network behavior and find anomalies; allowing Vodafone to quickly address issues that might impact their customers’ experience.

Anomaly detection is offered “as-a-Service” as part of Nokia’s Cloud Support Services with plans to add support for core and 5G networks and near real-time monitoring capabilities for operations teams.

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About Vodafone

Vodafone is a leading telecommunications company in Europe and Africa. Our purpose is to “connect for a better future” enabling an inclusive and sustainable digital society. Our expertise and scale gives us a unique opportunity to drive positive change for society. Our networks keep family, friends, businesses and governments connected and – as COVID-19 has clearly demonstrated – we play a vital role in keeping economies running and the functioning of critical sectors like education and healthcare.

Vodafone is the largest mobile and fixed network operator in Europe and a leading global IoT connectivity provider. Our M-Pesa technology platform in Africa enables over 48m people to benefit from access to mobile payments and financial services. We operate mobile and fixed networks in 21 countries and partner with mobile networks in 49 more. As of 31 March 2021, we had over 300m mobile customers, more than 28m fixed broadband customers, over 22m TV customers and we connected more than 123m IoT devices.

We support diversity and inclusion through our maternity and parental leave policies, empowering women through connectivity and improving access to education and digital skills for women, girls, and society at large. We are respectful of all individuals, irrespective of race, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, belief, culture or religion.

Vodafone is also taking significant steps to reduce our impact on our planet by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2025 and becoming net zero by 2040, purchasing 100% of our electricity from renewable sources by 2025 and by July 2021 in Europe, and reusing, reselling or recycling 100% of our redundant network equipment.

For more information, please visit www.vodafone.com, follow us on Twitter at @VodafoneGroup or connect with us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/vodafone.

About Nokia

We create the critical networks and technologies to bring together the world’s intelligence, across businesses, cities, supply chains and societies.

With our commitment to innovation and technology leadership, driven by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, we deliver networks at the limits of science across mobile, infrastructure, cloud, and enabling technologies.

Adhering to the highest standards of integrity and security, we help build the capabilities we need for a more productive, sustainable and inclusive world.

For our latest updates, please visit us online www.nokia.com and follow us on Twitter @nokia.