Vodafone inks 10-year deal with Microsoft amid efforts to save struggling European businesses
Vodafone signed a decade-long partnership deal with Microsoft on Tuesday as it ramps up investment in its digital services amid a dramatic turnaround effort.
The British multinational telecoms company plans to invest $1.5bn (£1.2bn) over the next 10 years to advance its cloud and customer services using artificial intelligence (AI).
Microsoft will help Vodafone develop these with its OpenAI and Azure technologies. Employees will be able to use Microsoft Copilot.
Through the alliance, the telco will replace physical data centres with cheaper and scalable Azure cloud services. Microsoft will also invest an unknown sum of equity into Vodafone’s Internet of Things (IoT) platform, which is set to become a standalone business by April this year.
In return, the tech giant will be able to use Vodafone’s connectivity services.
Vodafone said it is aiming to support 300m businesses and consumers across its European and African markets with the collaboration.
Vodafone Group chief executive, Margherita Della Valle, said the “strategic partnership with Microsoft will accelerate the digital transformation of our business customers, particularly small and medium-sized companies, and step up the quality of customer experience for consumers”.
It comes as the telecoms company is trying to turn around several of its struggling European businesses. Last January it signed a deal which bid goodbye to its Hungarian business. In October, it said it was selling off its Spanish arm to London-based Zegona.
Last month, French telecoms company Iliad said it had submitted a proposal to Vodafone to merge their Italian businesses.