MWC 2022: Telefónica boosts cloud cover with AWS, Microsoft

Demonstrating exactly how the leading telcos will extend their reach and change their modus operandi, Telefónica’s Tech division is to become an AWS Premier Consulting Partner, while the operator has extended the scope of its collaboration with Microsoft.

Telefónica Tech and Amazon Web Services (AWS) said they are committed to fostering innovation in the cloud.

Telefónica Tech plans to launch several value-added services such as edge computing and cloud-native private 5G networks that run on AWS Outposts, and the collaboration is designed to open up new opportunities in 5G and use cases for edge computing, as well as machine learning, internet of things (IoT), video and game streaming and Industry 4.0.

Fundamentally, Telefónica Tech and AWS will develop joint go-to-market activities to support customers’ use of cloud services and enable more 5G and edge services for customers. In Spain, Telefónica is launching TV-commerce app Selección Hogar de Movistar on its pay-TV subscription service, allowing users to browse more than 20,000 home products and a wide selection of products available on Amazon.es.

With the launch of the Living App on Movistar+, users of the TV platform in more than one million homes in Spain will be able to access over 20,000 products, such as decoration, cooking, DIY, lighting, electrical appliances and gardening, with, assured the operator, the option of fast delivery.

“This agreement with AWS strengthens our partnership and allows us to go to market with a comprehensive and cutting-edge proposition,” said Telefónica Tech CEO Jose Cerdán. “Our customers demand greater innovation in the design of cloud solutions and demand to use AWS services from the most appropriate location. The professional and managed services that Telefónica Tech will offer will therefore be key to helping companies in this complex process of adopting the public cloud with edge locations.”

In addition, Telefónica Tech will continue to expand its managed and professional services with the creation of an AWS competence centre that will use best practices recommended by AWS to help customers transition to the cloud in a fast and secure way. This AWS competence centre will offer new services relating to cost optimisation, devops and automation, application modernisation, and other cloud-related capabilities. Telefónica Tech currently has a qualified team of around 4,000 expert professionals serving the Telefónica Group’s 5.5 million B2B customers in 175 countries.

The agreement includes a joint go-to-market proposition with AWS, with the aim to bring innovation to customers faster and to help them better leverage the agility of the cloud. Telefónica Tech will also provide its enterprise, SMB and public sector customers with native professional services on AWS at any stage of their cloud journey, offering support through the various stages of platform assessment, design and deployment, and migration.

“We are excited to work with Telefónica to bring our successful collaboration to the next level and build out customer-centric solutions on AWS, especially on 5G and edge computing,” said Adolfo Hernandez, vice-president of global telco industry AWS. “This collaboration means AWS can bring the highest level of cloud-native expertise to an even wider audience with Telefónica, significantly accelerating the pace of innovation and cloud adoption.”

Telefónica’s relationship with Microsoft has to date been focused mainly on confidential computing initiatives for the business and public sector segment, digital transformation and connectivity. The new initiatives are designed to contemplate the development and commercialisation of new proposals and solutions for the home, based on the advanced network capabilities of Telefónica and its technological platforms in different markets.

In addition to gaming video, a key element of the deal will be centred on video, and the new alliance plans to facilitate access to select LinkedIn Learning content on Telefónica’s Movistar+ television platform, which features original productions and premium content.

Also in the deal, expansion of the communications capabilities of Movistar Home with the integration of Microsoft Teams will be evaluated, turning the Telefónica device into a home communications centre. This is designed to enable users to connect to video conferences and make calls through Teams using the device screen with voice commands, with the help of Aura.

Another of the lines of collaboration will be to provide Telefónica users with more secure and controlled access to data and work on initiatives to increase the security of products and services supported by Telefónica’s fourth platform and Microsoft data services. Telefónica is also looking to run joint commercial and marketing initiatives on Surface devices in Telefónica's markets in Europe.

Telefónica is also looking to extend the use of Microsoft 365 to other markets where it has a presence, after the agreement reached last year with Vivo in Brazil, which became one of the first operators in South America to offer a monthly subscription to Microsoft 365.