Ericsson and Telstra have deepened their collaboration on autonomous network technology, building on an October 2025 agreement that examined testing and practical deployment of automation tools. The expanded partnership will concentrate on improving how network data flows between systems from competing vendors, enabling smoother interoperability across the telecom industry.
A dedicated working group will examine how networks gather, organize and exchange information. Their research will feed into industry standardization efforts, with particular attention to the Knowledge Plane—the layer that stores data about network operations, governance rules and decision-making protocols.
Autonomous networks require more than the automation of individual tasks. They depend on a shared understanding of what the network is, what it is expected to do and how much confidence can be placed in the knowledge supporting each decision.
Mark Saunders, Telstra Chief Architect
Saunders continued: "By working with Ericsson on common approaches to knowledge and trusted agency, we can help address these foundational challenges and contribute to the industry's progress towards more interoperable and dependable network autonomy."
The evolution towards autonomous networks will require collaboration across the telecommunications industry. Common approaches to knowledge, knowledge exchange and trustworthy AI will be important to enable autonomous capabilities to operate more consistently across domains and technology environments.
Mats Karlsson, Ericsson Head of Solution Area Business & Operations Support Systems
Karlsson noted that the expanded work with Telstra represents "an opportunity to explore these foundations, share outcomes with the industry and support the development of more open and scalable approaches to network autonomy."
