How DevOps Is Used in Indian Telecom Companies

DevOps · Telecom

How DevOps Is Used in Indian Telecom Companies Today

SECTION 01DevOps for telecom IT systems (OSS/BSS and apps)

A telecom operator's IT side includes Operations Support Systems (OSS), Business Support Systems (BSS) such as billing and order management, customer self-care apps and partner portals. These systems change often — new plans, tariff updates, regulatory changes — and a bad release can affect millions of customers. DevOps helps by breaking releases into smaller changes, testing them automatically and rolling them out in stages.

name: billing-service-ci
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: "3.12"
      - run: pip install -r requirements.txt
      - run: pytest -q tests/
  build:
    needs: test
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: docker build -t billing-service:${{ github.sha }} .

# tests/test_tariff.py
from billing.tariff import monthly_charge

def test_basic_plan_without_extra_data():
    assert monthly_charge(plan="basic", extra_gb=0) == 299

def test_extra_data_is_charged_per_gb():
    assert monthly_charge(plan="basic", extra_gb=2) == 299 + 2 * 25

SECTION 02DevOps in network operations

Network engineers traditionally logged in to routers and switches one by one to change configurations. At telecom scale, manual changes lead to drift and errors. Network automation applies DevOps ideas to the network: store configurations in Git, generate them from templates, validate them before deployment and push them with tools such as Ansible. This approach is often called NetDevOps.

- name: Back up running config on access routers
  hosts: access_routers
  gather_facts: false
  connection: ansible.netcommon.network_cli
  tasks:
    - name: Save running configuration
      cisco.ios.ios_config:
        backup: true
        backup_options:
          dir_path: ./backups

# inventory.ini
[access_routers]
rtr-noida-01 ansible_host=10.10.1.1
rtr-noida-02 ansible_host=10.10.1.2

[access_routers:vars]
ansible_network_os=cisco.ios.ios
ansible_user=netops

SECTION 03Cloud-native network functions and 5G cores

Modern mobile cores, including 5G standalone cores, are designed to run as software on standard servers rather than fixed hardware boxes. Network functions are packaged as containers (Cloud-native Network Functions, or CNFs) and managed with Kubernetes. That brings software practices into the network: version-controlled manifests, automated upgrades, health checks and quick rollback.

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: demo-nf
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: demo-nf
  strategy:
    type: RollingUpdate
    rollingUpdate:
      maxUnavailable: 1
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: demo-nf
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: demo-nf
          image: nginx:1.27
          ports:
            - containerPort: 80
          readinessProbe:
            httpGet:
              path: /
              port: 80

kubectl apply -f demo-nf.yaml
kubectl rollout status deployment/demo-nf
kubectl set image deployment/demo-nf demo-nf=nginx:1.27.1
kubectl rollout undo deployment/demo-nf

SECTION 04Telecom DevOps lab templates

Use these templates to build a small lab that mirrors telecom DevOps work on your laptop.

Lab 1 — CI for a tariff service
  Python service + pytest + GitHub Actions

Lab 2 — Network backups as code
  2 virtual routers (or containerlab) + Ansible

Lab 3 — Rolling update on Kubernetes
  kind or minikube + Deployment + probes

Lab 4 — Monitoring
  Prometheus + Grafana dashboard for the service

Change runbook — telecom style
1. Change ID and description
2. Systems and regions affected
3. Pre-checks (health, backups taken)
4. Rollout steps (one circle first)
5. Success criteria (KPIs to watch)
6. Rollback steps
7. Sign-off and communication

- Built a CI pipeline with automated tariff tests
  for a sample billing service (GitHub Actions, pytest)
- Automated router config backups with Ansible
  and stored them in Git
- Practised rolling updates and rollbacks on
  Kubernetes with readiness probes

SECTION 05Tips for a DevOps career in telecom

Telecom DevOps rewards people who respect stability as much as speed:

• Learn Linux and networking first — telecom work always touches IP, DNS and routing.
• Think in rollbacks — every change plan should say how to undo it.
• Practise Ansible and Kubernetes — they cover both the network and the cloud-native side.
• Understand change management — telecom teams work with approvals and maintenance windows.
• Get comfortable with monitoring — Prometheus and Grafana skills are useful everywhere.

SECTION 06Interview Q&A — DevOps in telecom

SECTION 07Test yourself — DevOps in telecom quiz

SECTION 08Frequently asked questions

SECTION 09Related reads