Spanish SME specialising in NFV orchestration and 5G service platforms, with two EU Innovation Action projects in telecom virtualisation.
OPTARE Solutions is a Spanish telecom technology SME specialising in software-defined networking (SDN), network functions virtualisation (NFV), and 5G service orchestration. Their H2020 work centres on building the software layers that allow telecom operators to program, deploy, and manage virtualised network services without relying on dedicated hardware. In practical terms, they help turn complex network infrastructure into configurable software — reducing cost and time-to-market for operators launching new services. Their engineering focus sits at the intersection of cloud-native architecture and telecommunications, making them a niche technical contributor in European 5G research consortia.
Both SONATA and 5GTANGO are directly concerned with programming and orchestrating virtualised network functions, placing this at the core of OPTARE's technical profile.
5GTANGO (2017–2020) focused on validation platforms for 5G industry-specific network services and applications, signalling deliberate positioning in the 5G stack.
SONATA's full title — 'Service Programming and Orchestration for Virtualized Software Networks' — and its successor 5GTANGO both build on SDN principles as an enabling layer.
5GTANGO explicitly built a development and validation platform, suggesting OPTARE contributes software engineering and toolchain components, not only conceptual research.
OPTARE's two projects trace a coherent and deliberate technical trajectory. Between 2015 and 2017 (SONATA), their work centred on the foundational challenge of how to program and orchestrate virtualised software networks — essentially building the control plane for NFV infrastructure. From 2017 onward (5GTANGO), that foundation was applied upward into the 5G domain, where the same orchestration principles were extended to industry-specific network services and app validation on 5G infrastructure. There is no visible pivot or discontinuity — this is a single technology thread deepening over five years, from generic NFV orchestration into 5G-specific deployment platforms.
OPTARE appears to be building toward commercial roles in 5G network service management and operator tooling — a natural next step for an SME that has contributed engineering work to two successive EU 5G research platforms.
OPTARE has participated in two relatively large Innovation Action consortia — averaging roughly 13 partners per project — without ever taking the coordinator role, which marks them as a focused technical contributor rather than a project manager. With 26 unique partners across just two projects, they show breadth of collaboration rather than reliance on a stable inner circle, suggesting they integrate well into diverse consortia. For potential partners, this means OPTARE is likely a reliable specialist who brings specific NFV or 5G engineering capability and fits into a consortium without needing to drive it.
OPTARE has worked with 26 distinct organisations across 10 countries — a wide network for an SME with only two projects, reflecting the large multi-partner structure typical of EU ICT Innovation Actions. Their geographic reach spans at least a third of EU member states, though their home base remains Galicia, Spain.
OPTARE occupies a narrow but valuable niche: they are one of the few Spanish SMEs with consecutive hands-on contributions to EU-funded NFV and 5G orchestration research, giving them a credible track record in a domain dominated by large telecom vendors. For consortium builders, an SME with real 5G software engineering experience and a light administrative footprint is often easier to integrate than a university lab or large industrial partner. Their location in Vigo, outside the main Spanish tech hubs, also makes them an attractive partner for consortia seeking geographic diversity within Spain.
