Vodafone Deploys AI to Fortify Mobile Network Resilience Across Europe and Africa
December 1, 2025
In an era of increasing climate volatility and grid instability, ensuring the continuity of critical telecommunications services has become a paramount challenge for network operators. Vodafone Group has announced a major initiative to address this by leveraging artificial intelligence to significantly enhance the resilience and power backup capabilities of its mobile infrastructure across Europe and Africa. The program, dubbed Vodafone Enhanced Power, is a direct response to severe outages, such as the major Iberian power disruption earlier this year, which highlighted the vulnerability of essential services. The telco's primary aim is to safeguard connectivity for emergency services, public safety, and millions of mobile customers during widespread power failures caused by events ranging from wildfires and floods to national grid blackouts. As part of the two-year rollout starting in Portugal, Vodafone plans to harden more than 10,000 critical mobile sites that support emergency services across Europe. The company will equip its core network sites—over 400 mobile data centers and large backbone locations—with battery backups and diesel generators to provide a minimum of 72 hours of backup power. Furthermore, more than 10,000 radio and backhaul access sites will be equipped with at least four hours of backup power, marking the first phase of a wider upgrade to next-generation battery technology. The cornerstone of the strategy is an AI-driven system called Adaptive Power Backup. Already deployed in Greece and under trial in Turkey, this technology uses predictive algorithms to forecast outages and optimize power consumption. "It works by remotely and autonomously shutting down non-essential equipment or putting it into a low-energy state whilst leaving open crucial channels for emergency services, voice calls, and text messages," Vodafone explained. The company claims this intelligent management can nearly double backup duration in certain scenarios, ensuring emergency services remain connected three times longer than the industry standard. For its African operations under Vodacom, AI is being used to tackle frequent load-shedding. An "AI-on-the-Edge" solution prioritizes energy sources, reducing diesel runtime by 10 to 15 percent, lowering operational costs, and minimizing maintenance site visits. Vodafone stated that this AI-centric approach not only boosts resilience but also helps mitigate the substantial capital expenditure required for deploying additional physical batteries, thereby freeing resources for other network upgrades. The initiative signals a strategic shift in the telecom industry, moving from reactive backup solutions to intelligent, predictive infrastructure management. As networks become more central to societal function, Vodafone's large-scale deployment of AI for resilience could set a new benchmark for operational continuity in the face of growing environmental and infrastructural challenges. Source: datacenterdynamics
Vodafone Deploys AI to Fortify Mobile Network Resilience Across Europe and Africa
