Vodafone tapped VMware to automate and orchestrate all workloads running on its core networks across Europe, building on an existing relationship announced last year.

VMware currently supplies Network Functions Virtualisation for Vodafone, a capability the operator claimed has yielded cost savings of roughly 55 per cent as it brought network functions online around 40 per cent faster.

Now Vodafone plans to deploy the full VMware Telco Cloud Platform in all its European markets.  The operator stated VMware’s platform will orchestrate all network functions and services on its core networks, regardless of vendor.

Vodafone stated its work with VMware will initially focus on 5G standalone, followed by voice over internet, next-generation videoconferencing and virtual/augmented reality. The operator added all of these can be orchestrated into the correct network slices to suit customer requirements.

VMware’s Telco Cloud Platform has already been deployed by Vodafone in eight of its 11 European markets – the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Romania, and the UK.

Vodafone also worked with VMware in recent open RAN lab trials which delivered a twofold increase in 5G site capacity, according to the companies.

VMware, which offers operators multi-cloud orchestration, was one of the first vendors tapped by Dish Network for its greenfield 5G build. Later, Dish announced plans to host its core in the AWS cloud, but VMware has said it will retain responsibility for Dish Network’s most important RAN workloads.