At Ericsson’s rApp DevCon 2025, Swisscom provided a clear view of how automation and data driven network optimisation are becoming core elements of mobile strategy rather than isolated technical initiatives. In a keynote delivered by Francesco Pellegrini, Product Owner for Radio Network Optimisation at Swisscom, the emphasis was on how long term investment in automation, analytics and innovation supports not only network performance, but also the sustained delivery of a high quality mobile customer experience.
For Swisscom, automation is closely tied to its ambition to offer the best possible mobile experience across Switzerland. This ambition has guided network decisions for more than a decade and is reflected in the operator’s consistent top rankings in independent benchmarks. Rather than treating these results as an endpoint, Swisscom views them as a baseline that must be continuously defended as network complexity increases. Data driven insights and automated decision making now play a central role in translating customer experience expectations into concrete network actions.
Advanced analytics allow Swisscom to better understand how customers experience the network in real conditions and to prioritise optimisation accordingly. Automation then becomes the mechanism that allows these insights to be acted upon at scale and with consistency. As mobile networks evolve, with new spectrum layers, denser deployments and growing 5G usage, traditional manual optimisation approaches are no longer sufficient to maintain efficiency or performance.
Swisscom’s journey towards automated radio network optimisation started several years ago with early self organising network capabilities such as antenna tilt optimisation in LTE. Over time, this expanded into a broader portfolio of automation use cases, including open loop optimisation driven by customer experience data and AI supported solutions for performance analysis. Centralised optimisation algorithms for 5G mobility and the introduction of closed loop automation further strengthened this approach. Today, much of the 4G network is optimised through automation, while 5G tuning is already at an advanced stage.
Pellegrini highlighted that achieving this level of automation required more than deploying new tools. One of the main challenges was introducing innovation while continuing to operate one of the highest performing networks in the market. This demanded changes in processes and mindset, particularly within radio optimisation teams. Engineers increasingly moved away from manual, vendor specific tools towards programmable, data centric workflows that support repeatability and scale.
The next phase of Swisscom’s mobile strategy builds on this foundation through its expanded partnership with Ericsson. A key component is the integration of the Ericsson Intelligent Automation Platform into Swisscom’s existing automation framework. This enables coordination between existing use cases while providing access to a standardised rApp environment and to the wider ecosystem. Just as importantly, it allows Swisscom to leverage data already available within its internal data lake to support more advanced optimisation and automation scenarios.
In radio network optimisation, Swisscom is already working with several AI enabled rApps, including anomaly detection, root cause analysis and antenna optimisation capabilities. At the same time, the operator is exploring the development of its own rApps, with radio optimisation as the starting point. The ambition, however, extends beyond optimisation alone. Network deployment and network healing are also seen as key areas where automation can deliver measurable benefits, particularly through zero touch approaches that accelerate cell acceptance and improve network health monitoring.
A central enabler of this strategy is the evolution of skills within Swisscom’s engineering teams. Radio engineers are increasingly expected to combine deep domain expertise with capabilities in coding, data handling and AI. While radio knowledge remains the foundation, closer collaboration with internal data science teams is becoming essential. This balance allows Swisscom to develop more sophisticated automation use cases without diluting its core engineering strengths.
The keynote also underlined the importance of open ecosystems in sustaining differentiation. Swisscom sees value in combining vendor developed rApps with innovations from a broader community, enabled by a standardised automation platform. This approach supports experimentation, accelerates innovation and reduces dependency on bespoke integrations, all while maintaining control over network performance and quality.
Swisscom’s experience illustrates that automation and data driven network optimisation are not short term initiatives, but long term strategic capabilities. As network complexity continues to grow, the ability to combine customer experience insights with intelligent, coordinated automation will be critical to maintaining leadership. Swisscom’s mobile strategy shows how these elements can be embedded into daily operations, positioning the operator to continue delivering a high quality mobile experience in an increasingly demanding environment.
The embedded keynote video provides additional depth and context, offering valuable insight into how Swisscom is translating automation concepts into real world operational practice.
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