Virgin Media O2 and Zinkworks to plug more AI into the network

Virgin Media O2 is  deploying more AI tools to reduce outages, improve reliability and lower operating costs.

The operator is working with AI-solutions provider Zinkworks to bring in automation to monitor network performance in real time and resolve potential problems before they affect users.

Thise builds on technology already used in Virgin Media O2’s fixed broadband network, where automation is claimed to have educed repair times by more than a third and cut engineer visits by 12 per cent. Similar results are expected from mobile deployment by preventing faults, reducing manual intervention and limiting call-outs.

The system predicts where issues could occur and triggers corrective action. It will be deployed across radio access and core infrastructure.

Jeanie York, chief technology officer at Virgin Media O2, said: “Greater automation will help us predict and prevent issues and allow us to better spot and fix problems when they arise, reducing downtime and ensuring customers can trust us to deliver the dependable mobile experience they rely on.”

Paul Madden, CEO of Zinkworks, added: “operators are increasingly looking to deploy AI at scale to strengthen network performance and reduce outages”.