Microsoft, Telefonica announce new AI and edge computing partnership

Telefónica will expand the use of Microsoft’s Azure Cognitive Services over all customer relationship channels

The companies will also work to develop Telefónica’s smart applications for connected home devices

Microsoft Corp. and Telefónica recently announced a strategic partnership at the ongoing Mobile World Congress, for working together on projects to accelerate innovation at Telefónica and help transform the telecommunications industry.

Reportedly, the new partnership deal involves combining the power of Telefónica’s state-of-the-art networks and exceptional customer proposition with Microsoft’s Azure AI platform, for designing services that telcos will provide in the future. The agreement will also help evolve Microsoft’s edge computing strategy, which aims at positioning the company’s could division for the future, where a growing amount of application processing would be done closer to the end users.  

According to Telefónica, this partnership would build on the previous works of both the companies around the usage of data, as well as the Fourth Platform from Telefónica to power products such as its AI-powered digital assistant, Aura. The use of intelligent technology for transforming the network will remain a key focus of this partnership.

Telefónica, as part of the new agreement, would be expanding its use of Azure Cognitive Services across supplier and customer service channels, in addition to working with Microsoft to develop cloud-based connected home devices. The companies will particularly look to evaluate the use of Azure Cognitive Services as the basis for future smart applications of Telefónica, it informed.

Supposedly, Azure Cognitive Services enables users to benefit from the machine learning research of Microsoft for adding features like speech recognition into their applications. Telefónica already uses the service for Aura, its customer service chatbot.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated that, Telefónica has been leading in the use of AI to transform customer engagement, with this partnership helping to further build on this history of innovation. The companies will collaborate to apply the power of Azure and Azure AI in creating innovative experiences for millions of customers of Telefónica worldwide, Nadella added.