Why network core stability is an autonomous networking challenge

Autonomous Networks (AN) was a major theme at TM Forum’s recent DTW25 event in Copenhagen, with AN implementation and level assessment processes being the focus of one particular panel discussion.

The conversation, chaired by Aniket Mhala, Head of Innovation Hub, TM Forum, featured Mr. Eric Luo, VP Core Network, Huawei, who has responsibility for AN product solutions, Ms. Olta Vangjeli, Programme Director, Cloud Native IT & Networks, TM Forum, part of the collaboration team working with Forum members on shaping standards and building solutions, and Mr. Trihan Marsudi, GM, Network Digitalization and Analytics Platform, Telkomsel, responsible for handling autonomous network, analytics, AI and machine learning.

Mr. Luo began the conversation by defining autonomous networking level 4 in the core network. He explained how, because the core network is sensitive and complicated, CSPs think of accident prevention as their first priority, and after that focus on how to improve the accuracy and efficiency of demarcation. Consequently, he believes that the definition of AN-L4 in core networks should consist of two parts: high reliability and high efficiency. He stated that, with AN-L4 implementation, accident prevention capabilities can be improved to become zero accident, and the efficiency of the demarcation can be dramatically improved also. This aligns with findings from TM Forum’s annual Autonomous Networks Benchmark report (published January 2025), which features data from a survey of over 100 CSPs. In the survey, 85% of respondents stated that improving efficiency of operations and maintenance was a very important driver of AN implementation.

Mr. Luo also spoke about the complexity of the overall autonomous network level 4 journey, saying: “ANL4 in core network is mainly dependent on the AI agent to do the end to end closed loop automation, and the challenge comes from two aspects. One is the limitation of the AI, in terms of accuracy. In core network demarcation, high accuracy is a requirement—in some scenario, at least 90 % or more is necessary, but sometimes, especially in complicated tasks, the AI capability only reaches to 70% or less, so there is a gap that exists.” Another challenge is how to improve the capability of AI. This can incur a high cost because of the need for lots of high-quality data, plus the necessary computing capability. Mr. Luo believes these challenges will influence the rate of ANL4 implementation, because they need to be conquered in a step by step manner.

Mr. Trihan said that for Telkomsel, partly due to the unique geographic conditions of Indonesia, stability is important, because it is not possible to automate the network, (especially the core network), if it is not exceptionally stable.

This notion of stability as a precondition for moving to AN level 4 was echoed by TM Forum’s Vangjeli, who described some of the latest developments in the area, in terms of assessment and evaluation. She described the Forum’s Open Collaboration Projects, one of which relates to autonomous network level assessment, with members building standardized evaluation methodologies for the core, the RAN, and the IP network and for high-value scenarios like fault management or network optimization, network change, etc.

This has driven huge interest from CSPs and vendors to assess their level of network autonomy. This year, more than 30 CSPs took the assessment and shared their scores with TM Forum but Ms. Vangjeli stressed that it is not about only the score, (for example, level 3 or 2 .5), but about benchmarking their advancements towards network autonomy in terms of technology, delivering new products and providing network stability, core network stability, delivering services faster to the end customer, and providing a real view where they are in this journey and making strategic investments targeting areas of improvement. “Having a high stability evaluation for the core network is really critical, because it's the backbone for network continuity or providing services, and any fault or latency or service disruption will have impact in other network domains as well,” she said.

Telkmosel is one CSP that has recently undertaken the AN level assessment, and Mr. Trihan shared his overall experience of this assessment. “Our metrics are to know more than just [whether we are at] level 3, or 4, or our KQIs (key quality indicators), such as our success rate after a [network-affecting] disaster it is more than just a number.” However, he emphasized that it is vital to be able to understand the benefit of autonomous networks to customers. “We also have to measure what is autonomously assured in terms of customer experience.” Improving customer experience (CX) was the strongest driver of AN implementation overall in TM Forum’s AN Benchmark survey, noted by 91% of CSPs surveyed. Mr. Trihan added that collaborating with partners (such as Huawei) on the technology side, together with TM Forum support on evaluating the metrics, has given Telkomsel more transparency, something the CSP can use as proof of use cases and customer needs.

Mr. Trihan then shared some thoughts on what other CSPs should do in terms of planning and preparation for AN level assessment. “First of all, stability is the most important thing. We collaborated with Huawei to help us assess our network topology to see if it is stable. We can simulate all of our architecture to the system and see if it is stable or not.” He said that, for Telkomsel, facing a lot of potential natural disasters in its geographic vicinity, designing the architecture [to be stable] was an important action to undertake before pursuing higher levels of automation.

Huawei’s Eric Luo concluded the discussion by mentioning how the vendor cooperated with Telkomsel to help its network become more reliable, by leveraging automation for fault prevention use cases, with the aim of moving towards zero accident fault tolerance. Overall, this discussion showed a strong example of how close collaboration between a CSP, a technology solutions partner and TM forum can help the CSP gain clarity and prioritize actions through AN level assessment.

Watch the video here.