Telefónica has taken a significant step in its edge computing strategy activate the commercial phase of its Edge Computing services aimed at companies and public administrations in Spain. The operator is thus beginning to widely exploit a project that had been in preparation for some time and that aspires to position the country among the European leaders in sovereign Edge infrastructure.
The company already offers B2B services from five nodes Operations are located in Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao, and A Coruña. These initial points of presence mark the start of a broader deployment that, according to Telefónica's Edge Plan, will reach 17 nodes distributed throughout the country, leveraging its fiber optic and 5G Stand Alone networks, as well as open APIs such as those of Open Gateway.
First commercial nodes and roadmap of the Edge Plan
The productive ecosystems of Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao and A Coruña They now have access to Telefónica's first Edge services. These infrastructures, designed as small, distributed data centers, bring computing and storage capacity closer to the data source, resulting in very low latency and more efficient business processes.
Within the first phase of the Edge Plan, the operator's objective is to achieve 17 nodes deployed in SpainOf that total, 12 infrastructures are already physically prepared: the five nodes with active B2B services and another seven located in Madrid (with a second node in the capital), Barcelona, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Valladolid, Terrassa and Merida, which will gradually activate their commercial services.
More will be added throughout the year five additional sites in Zaragoza, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gijón, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and Santiago de Compostela. With this, the company expects to have a complete network of 17 Edge nodes by 2026, distributed across the Iberian Peninsula and the archipelagos, covering a wide range of metropolitan areas and industrial hubs.
These facilities are integrated with the network of FTTH fiber and the 5G Stand Alone (5G SA) mobile infrastructure from Telefónica. Many of them are located in old copper exchanges converted into Edge centers, which allows the reuse of existing strategic locations, now adapted to strict availability, physical security and cybersecurity requirements.
The deployment is complemented by the capabilities of GSMA Open GatewayA set of open APIs that makes it easier for developers and technology partners to access advanced network functions. This allows Edge services to be combined with features such as traffic prioritization or device location to build more sophisticated solutions.
What does Telefónica's Edge technology bring to businesses and public administrations?
Telefónica's approach involves bringing computing power closer to its own factory, store, office, or critical facilityThis minimizes network hops and reliance on large, centralized data centers. With this architecture, you can work with near real-time data, improve the responsiveness of latency-sensitive applications, and gain resilience by distributing workloads.
Thanks to Edge nodes, organizations can process, analyze and store information very close to the sourceThis approach allows for greater control over the data and limits its exposure to third parties. It is particularly relevant in environments with strict requirements for regulatory compliance, confidentiality, or when information must reside within a specific territory.
Telefónica presents this network as a evolution of the traditional Cloud modelIn addition to the usual elasticity and scalability of the cloud, there is a component of proximity and sovereignty that facilitates use cases that were previously complicated or not very viable with centralized infrastructures, especially when combined with 5G SA and symmetric fiber.
In practice, the operator optimizes traffic routes for connected customers, for example, from an industrial plant or a business that uses Telefónica's FTTH fiber opticThe data flow between the customer's headquarters and the Edge node remains within the same service region and travels through a limited number of network hops, helping to maintain low and stable latency.
This model opens the door to advanced services in areas such as Industry 4.0, logistics, retail, ports, mass communications, digital twins, or autonomous drivingThe nodes act as local data centers capable of managing large volumes of information generated by sensors, robots, cameras, or connected vehicles, without needing to send all that data to a distant central cloud.
Two service levels: Basic Edge and Smart Edge
Telefónica Empresas has defined a specific portfolio of Edge services structured in two main modalities: Basic Edge and Smart Edge. Both rely on the TTCP (Telefónica Tech Cloud Platform), operated by Telefónica Tech, which acts as the backbone for managing computing, storage, and connectivity resources.
Level Basic Edge It aims to provide a stable and predictable infrastructure, with a special focus on data sovereignty. Each node is configured as an independent availability zone, so companies can deploy their applications with enhanced guarantees of business continuity and resilience even if incidents occur at other points in the network.
In this environment, organizations have access to advanced computing capabilities through GPU virtual machinesThese systems are designed for workloads involving artificial intelligence, intensive analytics, or computer vision. Access to this hardware is offered as a service, avoiding high initial investments and the complexity of maintaining your own infrastructure.
The Basic Edge also incorporates functionalities of Sovereign AI and models based on RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)These technologies enable the development of intelligent agents that comply with national or regional data protection and security regulations. This is all complemented by secure storage solutions located very close to the data, minimizing migrations to public clouds.
Furthermore, this level includes the comprehensive license management for leading business solutions that customers may require, simplifying software administration and centralizing the relationship with the various providers through Telefónica.
Smart Edge: dynamism, mobility and real time
Above the basic level is the service Smart EdgeThis model is geared towards scenarios that demand greater dynamism, mobility, and real-time execution. It addresses critical processes where the ability to move workloads between nodes or instantiate them on demand in the optimal location for each moment is key.
One of the distinguishing features of Smart Edge is the ability to select the most appropriate node to run an application based on needs. The system can create operational copies of services (instances) near where data is generated or where users are located, helping to maintain very low latency even when the operation is geographically distributed.
Access to Smart Edge can be done through the FTTH fiber network from the operator, as well as through 5G Standalone connectivity, depending on the client's priorities and the criticality of the use case. The offering includes the possibility of contracting bandwidth with guaranteed quality of service (QoS) and configuring Private 5G APNs to isolate and prioritize business traffic.
This approach is particularly interesting for companies with mobile operations, such as transportation, logistics, or field services, as well as for industrial environments with mobile robots, autonomous vehicles, or inspection systems that move around large facilities. to bring artificial intelligence and processing closer to the point where the activity takes placeResponse times are reduced and the reliability of automated decisions is improved.
The combination of Basic Edge and Smart Edge allows organizations mix static environments with highly dynamic ones according to their internal processes. For example, an industry may maintain its planning and general analytics systems at a basic level, while applying Smart Edge to manage robotics, machine vision, or critical monitoring of its production lines in real time.
Use cases, Industry 4.0 and railway pilot with CAF
Telefónica presents its Edge network as a lever for the deployment of new advanced services in industry 4.0Among the use cases that the company prioritizes are mobile robotics, assembly line automation, predictive maintenance, real-time analytics, fleet management, route optimization, and traceability and inventory of all types of assets.
In the field of transport and logistics, Edge can facilitate intelligent warehouse management, merchandise tracking, or machine vision for quality controlIn addition to more precise monitoring of critical infrastructure in ports and terminals, low latency and local processing allow for near-instantaneous response to anomalous events, without relying on a constant connection to large, distant data centers.
One of the most visible examples of the potential of this model is the pilot developed together with CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles)This is considered the first European B2B case combining Edge and 5G SA in the railway sector. In this project, the architecture has been used to deploy interior perception solutions based on machine vision on board trains.
Thanks to the use of Edge nodes, CAF can to process the images and data generated on the train without the need to install computing nodes in each carThe processing is performed in close proximity and with low latency, which reduces complexity, energy consumption and equipment costs, while maintaining a high level of reliability in the response of the systems.
This pilot serves as a demonstrator of how the combination of 5G Stand Alone, Edge and computer vision algorithms This can be applied to sectors where mobility, security, and reaction time are critical. Following this innovative experience, Telefónica has decided to begin the commercialization phase of its Edge services and offer the market capabilities similar to those used in this use case.
Data sovereignty, European model and institutional support
Beyond the purely technical aspect, Telefónica emphasizes the component of digital sovereignty and data control associated with the deployment of their Edge nodes. As these infrastructures are located within the national territory and managed under European regulatory frameworks, companies can ensure that information is processed and stored in accordance with the legal requirements of each country or region.
The nodes function as low-latency data centers that bring cloud capabilities closer to the customer's environment. In contrast to a model based solely on large, centralized hyperscaler infrastructures, the operator's proposal relies on an open, decentralized, and multi-vendor architecture, in which interfaces are shared and interoperability between different technology players is enhanced.
This deployment is part of a Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) Coordinated by the European Commission, the initiative aims to strengthen the digital capabilities of the continent's industry. The proposal submitted by Telefónica Spain was, according to the company, the highest-rated nationally in 2021 and received Brussels' backing.
Financing is channeled through the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan from the Spanish government, which has accelerated the creation of a network of sovereign Edge nodes in the country. One of the objectives is to reduce technological dependence on platforms located outside the European Union and strengthen the digital autonomy of both Spain and the EU as a whole.
With this approach, the operator proposes an alternative in which Data and critical infrastructure remain under European legal frameworksThis also facilitates collaboration with multiple software and service providers. In this way, organizations can benefit from ecosystem innovation without relinquishing control over where and how their information is processed.
Presence at MWC and positioning in the European market
Telefónica plans to take advantage of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) of BarcelonaThe event, which takes place from March 2nd to 5th, will showcase Telefónica's advancements in low-latency Edge and 5G in greater detail. The event agenda includes a session in the Agora at the company's booth entitled "Immediate Future: Leading 5G Low-Latency Edge," featuring experts from Telefónica Spain and CAF.
During this session, both the results of the railway pilot project and different business models and opportunities associated with Edge deployment in industrial, transportation, and public services sectors. The company seeks to reinforce its role as one of the players driving the transition to more distributed network and cloud architectures in Europe.
With the activation of the first commercial nodes, the roadmap towards the 17 planned Edge centers and the backing of European institutions, Telefónica aims to To consolidate a benchmark environment in Spain for the development of business solutions based on low latency, high computing capacity and strict compliance with European regulations.
The deployment of this Edge network is emerging as a key element in the modernization of the country's digital infrastructure, offering businesses and government agencies a flexible, distributed technological framework ready for the next wave of digital transformation, in which artificial intelligence, advanced automation and ubiquitous connectivity will play a central role.
