Vodafone To Boost Resilience And Extend Power Backup Time At 10,000+ Mobile Sites Serving Emergency Services

Vodafone today announced the launch of the Vodafone Enhanced Power initiative, a major network resilience programme designed to protect essential digital services, emergency responses, and customer connectivity during large-scale power outages. The initiative accelerates the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI), next-generation backup systems, and multi-layered power resilience strategies across Europe and Africa.

Recent climate-related disasters and increasing instability of regional power grids have highlighted the urgent need to fortify the communications infrastructure that underpins emergency and critical online services. The programme’s rollout was fast-tracked following a significant blackout in April 2025 that impacted telecommunications, transportation, and banking systems in Portugal and parts of Spain and France. During the peak of the incident, up to 60% of mobile users in Portugal experienced disrupted or severely limited connectivity.

Strengthening More Than 10,000 Critical Sites

The Vodafone Enhanced Power initiative is designed to reinforce over 10,000 essential mobile infrastructure sites across Europe that support emergency services, public safety organisations, and key governmental and commercial operations. The programme leverages both existing temporary mobile units and innovative AI-driven power management systems to extend backup capacity and reduce CO₂ emissions. Deployment begins in Portugal, with continued expansion across Vodafone’s European markets over the next two years.

Multi-Tier Power Resilience: Local, Regional and National Response

Vodafone’s resilience framework includes distinct response layers to handle outages of varying scale:

• Local outages (up to 10 mobile sites): Vodafone will continue to deploy portable solutions such as Cells on Wheels (COW), supported by the Instant Network Emergency Response (INER) team. The INER programme has been deployed to more than 28 global disasters, most recently assisting in Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa.
• Regional blackouts (tens to hundreds of sites): Vodafone will introduce Adaptive Power Backup, an AI-controlled technique enabling remote optimisation of backup batteries—potentially doubling runtime depending on network conditions.
• National or cross-border blackouts: Vodafone has enhanced resilience plans for its core and aggregation networks, including:
• Core mobile sites: Over 400 mobile data centres equipped with at least 72 hours of backup power or guaranteed refuelling within 48 hours.
• Aggregation sites: Minimum of four hours of backup at key junction points routing customer data.
• Critical access sites: More than 10,000 radio and backhaul sites supporting emergency services, hospitals, government offices, airports, and transport hubs will be equipped with at least four hours of backup in the first phase.

Vodafone is further exploring satellite connectivity to ensure emergency responders’ devices remain online even in the most challenging conditions.

AI-Driven Outage Prediction and Power Optimisation

AI will play a central role in extending network availability during outages. Vodafone has launched its Adaptive Power Backup system in Greece and is piloting it in Turkey, with plans to expand further in 2026. This innovation enables the network to predict outages, optimise power consumption, and autonomously shut down non-essential equipment while preserving vital channels for emergency calls and messages. The technology can nearly double backup capacity and keep emergency services connected up to three times longer than industry norms.

AI-enabled optimisation also reduces the need for extensive battery replacement programmes, avoiding billions in potential capital expenditure across European markets.

Collaborative Energy Models and Virtual Power Plants

To support long-term resilience, Vodafone is exploring cooperative energy models with electricity providers and other operators. Leveraging Virtual Power Plant (VPP) systems, mobile networks could monetise idle capacity and contribute to energy market stabilisation. While these schemes offer significant environmental and financial benefits, further regulatory support is required across Europe to accelerate adoption beyond early-leader markets such as Germany, Ireland, and the UK.

Strengthening Resilience in Africa Through AI and Renewable Energy

Vodafone’s African business, Vodacom, is integrating AI and renewable energy sources to mitigate the impact of frequent load-shedding. Its AI-on-the-edge solution dynamically governs energy use to reduce diesel consumption, cut operational costs, and maintain network availability. Initial deployment results show a 10–15% reduction in diesel usage and improved service continuity during grid stress events.

Alignment with European Security and Infrastructure Frameworks

The Enhanced Power initiative aligns fully with the European Union’s evolving cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection policies. Vodafone is actively engaging with the European Commission and national regulators to ensure compliance, accelerate deployment, and explore opportunities for co-funding where appropriate.

Vodafone emphasises that sustained resilience requires coordinated public–private investment. Governments and regulators play a crucial role in providing targeted funding, updating energy policies, and supporting grid upgrades to match Europe’s digital ambitions