Telefónica Germany has deployed a new energy management and optimization platform across its data centers and other critical network sites.

The platform was developed in partnership with EkkoSense. The system combines IoT sensors, advanced analytics, and a real-time 3D digital twin to improve thermal management across data centers and network sites.

According to the companies, the initiative will address the growing energy demands associated with rising data traffic and increasing computing requirements.

The platform will provide real-time monitoring and predictive analysis capabilities, enabling operators to track equipment performance and thermal conditions across facilities. In creating a dynamic map of temperature distribution and system loads, the system can identify inefficiencies and provide automated recommendations to improve cooling performance.

Telefónica claims that the digital twin also allows operators to model and simulate the physical, electrical, and thermal capacities of technical rooms, enabling them to assess how infrastructure would behave under different load conditions or failure scenarios and plan mitigation strategies before problems arise.

The company noted that new sites can be added to the platform within days, without requiring construction work or service interruptions.

“Digitalization makes the data center visible, automation makes it intelligent,” said Rüdiger Kunze, head of housing and site infrastructure at Telefónica Germany. “EkkoSense’s digital twin combines both, enabling operators to redefine energy efficiency and proactively guide their infrastructure into the future.”

“One of the main barriers to data center optimization has been the complexity of traditional tools such as DCIM,” EkkoSense CEO Dean Boyle said. “By combining high-granularity sensing, real-time analytics, and 3D visualization, we are able to create a precise digital twin of the data center environment that enables real-time operational optimization.”

The companies claim that early evaluations of the program indicate that cooling energy consumption could be reduced by between 15 and 20 percent. Telefónica said these savings could help lower operational energy costs while improving overall infrastructure efficiency.

Continuous monitoring of thermal performance is also expected to help extend equipment lifespan, avoid unnecessary infrastructure expansion by improving capacity utilization, and enable more proactive maintenance through predictive alerts.

Telefónica plans to expand the rollout over the coming years, prioritizing sites with the highest energy consumption. The company said that it also intends to share lessons from the deployment across other markets within the Telefónica Group.

A demonstration of the platform is currently available at LaCabina in Distrito Telefónica and at the Innovation Experience Area of O2 Telefónica Germany in Munich, where the company is showcasing technologies linked to its broader autonomous network strategy.

Telefónica Germany is one of Germany’s main telecommunications providers, serving more than 45 million customers. It is owned by the Spanish Telefónica group.