Inside the network: How we’re creating the network of tomorrow

The network we built yesterday was designed for the smartphone era. Today, it needs to do much more. Our networks have always evolved to meet new demands, from the early analogue networks to today's 5G, adapting to the changing ways people and businesses connect. More devices are connecting, more data is moving and AI-powered services are increasing demand for speed, capacity and consistency.

Mobile data traffic across Vodafone’s networks has almost tripled in just five years and demand continues to grow.  From cars, sensors and machinery to everyday devices, business services and AI, more technologies depend on data moving quickly and reliably between people, applications and data centres. As a result, the network must deliver greater performance and capacity, while remaining reliable, secure and disruption free as customer expectation continue to rise. 

That is why the next step is not simply adding more capacity but building more intelligence into the network. We’re evolving from connected networks to intelligent networks, using data, AI and automation to understand demand, respond in real time and support more dependable experiences for customers today, while preparing for what comes next.

So, what does the network of tomorrow actually look like?

Our network is evolving for the future

A network that is more reliable, responsive and consistent, even when demand changes is the top of every customer’s and business’s wish list. Think about a network that uses data, automation and AI to understand what is happening across the network, anticipate what may happen next and respond quickly – while it might sound like science fiction, we call it intelligent networks.

“Intelligence is not easy to define but a great part of it lies in the ability to learn, reason, understand complex situations, make decisions, and act to achieve a desired outcome. The same concept can be applied to an intelligent network,” explains Director of Network Strategy & Architecture Marco Zangani. Traditionally, networks relied heavily on manual planning and intervention. AI, together with automation, control, data and analytics are changing that, allowing networks to monitor and optimise their performance. Zangani adds: “Ultimately, it enables us to deliver better customer experience, enabling new services and scaling efficiently to the demands of the future.”

But where intelligent networks really come to life is when they create better everyday experiences for our customers.

Vodafone Business is already combining AI with our intelligent networks to make everyday business calls more useful. Through a pilot programme, AI-powered calls can understand and respond to callers, capture enquiries and help complete tasks, without someone needing to answer the phone. Jamie Diez, Director of Product Engineering, Vodafone Business says, “The opportunity goes much further. Imagine an employee who keeps working while AI captures the next job enquiry, or a customer arranging an appointment without waiting for someone to answer. Those are the outcomes we are building towards, not another application to manage. Our ambition is to make that intelligence native to our voice network, connecting conversations directly to business action”.

The real value of an intelligent network is not simply what it can do, it is how it keeps customers connected and services running when the unexpected happens.

Stopping thing going bump in the night

A reliable network is not only about getting services back up and running quickly. It is about keeping performance stable, predictable and efficient every day. Diez says: “When cloud and AI applications or customer communications become unavailable, employees lose productive time and businesses can lose opportunities. We provide fixed, 5G and satellite services, combining them to keep businesses connected without relying on a single access technology. Reliability matters because connectivity is fundamental to how work gets done. Our priority is to make sure customers can depend on their services, whichever access technology supports them.”

Alongside this combination of connectivity, our Network APIs are helping businesses do just that, letting applications communicate directly with the network to request specific capabilities such as connectivity prioritisation, through Quality on Demand, seamless authentication through Number Verification, and fraud prevention, helping improve customer experiences when they need it most.

Johanna Wood, Head of Network API Portfolio explains: “Rather than the application telling the user to change their behaviour, the application can start communicating with the network via our Network APIs to request an improvement in the experience it’s getting. The point is that it’s super-efficient with how it uses the network. We’re not blanket prioritising that traffic but responding in the moment of need.”

We are already seeing this in action in Germany, the first market to launch Vodafone’s Quality on Demand Network API. It lets businesses and developers temporarily boost the quality of a 4G or 5G connection for services such as digital payments and sports broadcasts.

Reliability also depends on what happens behind the scenes. A more intelligent network can make software updates more consistent, reduce downtime and adjust capacity and coverage as demand changes. That matters even more as AI places greater demands on infrastructure.

Network performance is only part of the picture. True reliability means understanding what customers actually experience. Vodafone is working with CUJO AI to introduce Quality of Outcome software across millions of home broadband hubs in Europe. Rather than looking only at headline speeds, it measures how well everyday applications, from video calls and gaming to cloud services, are performing. This gives our teams a clearer view of where improvements are needed, helping deliver smoother and more reliable online experiences.

From smarter to secure, the next battleground

As the network becomes more autonomous, security must evolve with it. It is no longer just about protecting physical and digital infrastructure. We also need to make sure AI operates safely, makes trusted decisions and has the right controls built in from the start.

That matters because AI can bring new risks as well as new opportunities. Peter Anton, Senior Manager Cyber, Vodafone Networks, explains: “AI and automation can strengthen our ability to anticipate, detect and respond to threats at greater speed and scale. At the same time, trusted AI requires strong governance, appropriate human oversight and security-by-design principles to ensure its use remains transparent, controlled and aligned with security standards.”

Digital twins and AI agents can help put those safeguards into practice. A digital twin will give our teams a virtual version of the network, so they can safely test and validate changes before deploying them out to customers. Zangani compares the process to aviation: “Like a flight simulator allows pilots to test different scenarios before a real flight, Digital Twins allow actions to be modelled and validated before deployment, while AI Agents interpret intents, coordinate actions across different network domains and recommend or execute the most appropriate changes.”

We are already taking steps in this direction. Early this year, we successfully tested AI-driven predictive digital twin technology that forecasts mobile mast compute performance before deployment or upgrade at scale. These technologies are enabling us to move from manual week long network management to autonomous, real time data-driven operations that improve efficiency, resilience, and customer experience.

The goal is not simply greater autonomy, but trusted autonomy. Bringing cyber security, AI and network intelligence together to help the network adapt and recover from disruption, without losing control or customer trust.

The next generation of networks

The next generation of networks will do much more than connect people and devices. It will work smarter around us, understanding what we need and responding in real time to make services feel more reliable, personal and resilient. In Zangani’s words, “a more intelligent network is not only about running the network more efficiently; it is about creating the new telecommunication infrastructure for the future.”

This evolution will happen step by step, with people, trust and the right safeguards at its heart. For Dan Shannon, OpenRAN Senior Manager, AI-led network automation will enable “more and more fixes, faster resolutions” and a “quicker turnaround of upgrades and updates”, bringing services to customers sooner and improving the overall network experience. Ultimately, intelligent networks will help turn the possibilities of AI into practical, dependable experiences for customers and businesses.

This is how we’re creating tomorrow from inside the network. Turning intelligence into more reliable, secure and responsive experiences that give customers the confidence to do more in the era of more data, greater demand and ever-higher expectations.