13.06.2024
10,000 journeys saved and therefore faster:O2 Telefónica optimizes field technician deployments with intelligent analysis software
The O2 Telefónica technicians are on duty throughout Germany - even at lofty heights
Telecommunications provider O2 Telefónica is optimizing its repair and maintenance measures at around 28,000 mobile network sites, thereby ensuring an ever-better network experience for its 45 million customers. Thanks to various quality initiatives, the company was able to reduce the number of necessary repair measures per site by more than a third compared to 2019. This means that the network is stable and technicians have to visit the sites less often. To achieve this, O2 Telefónica is expanding with state-of-the-art network technology, continuously improving the quality of operation and maintenance of its mobile network and also using intelligent analysis software to manage technician deployments in a more targeted manner.
Mallik Rao
"Customers want to use their mobile services day and night. Our network must therefore be available around the clock. Our field technicians make a significant contribution to this by ensuring a stable network supply on site. To save valuable time in an emergency, we use digital tools to optimize deployment management for maintenance and repair measures," says Mallik Rao, Chief Technology & Information Officer at O2 Telefónica.
Networkers Georgina Fudulache and Ara Tretter work with the new analysis tool
Whether a faulty location, a defective antenna or even just a false alarm due to weather or other external influences - there are numerous reasons that can lead to an alarm at the more than 28,000 mobile network locations. The network experts at O2 Telefónica must deal with each of these reports immediately so that customers have a stable network on site.
O2 technicians climb around 700 kilometers into the air
The field technicians have climbed around 700 kilometers in the field for O2 Telefónica customers
The work often takes place at lofty heights on the antenna technology of the mobile phone masts. If you add up all the maintenance and repair work carried out over the past twelve months, the result is an impressive figure: the field technicians have climbed around 700 kilometers in the air on behalf of O2 Telefónica customers. Taken together, this would take them all the way up into space - and easily past the ISS space station at an altitude of 400 kilometers.
In winter or for places that are difficult to reach, the field technicians sometimes have to resort to snowshoes, skis or helicopter missions to get to the locations, as was recently the case during missions in the Allgäu and on the Zugspitze.
Analysis software ensures an improved network experience
Analysis tool and predictive maintenance significantly reduce the number of restrictions
In many cases, the technicians first have to go out to check the exact situation at the location. By using new analysis software, which was developed in-house, O2 Telefónica can significantly reduce the number of these test runs. After the first twelve months, the company has drawn a positive conclusion: O2 Telefónica was able to avoid more than 10,000 technician trips thanks to the new tool.
A field technician carries out maintenance and testing measures at a mobile radio site
The software draws information from the company's network databases. In many cases, it automatically recognizes which specific error is present on site and which measures need to be taken. O2 Telefónica thus sends the field technicians into the field with the right knowledge and the necessary hardware. This enables the company to rectify the restrictions on site more quickly. In addition, faults can increasingly be detected in advance in the sense of predictive maintenance and thus resolved before they even occur.
The analysis software helps to reduce emissions. After all, fewer car journeys by technicians also means less fuel consumption. Last year, the company was able to save an estimated 1 million kilometers of driving to on-site assignments.
