Telstra and Microsoft announced a five-year agreement that significantly expands their existing strategic partnership.
The arrangement is believed to be one of the largest partnerships Microsoft has established with a telecommunications provider globally.
Telstra to become Microsoft’s largest supplier of its network capacity requirements on terrestrial fibre in Australia. Microsoft will become an anchor tenant on Telstra’s new ultra-fast intercity fibre network.
Some other key aims:
- Boost Microsoft’s connectivity and growth in Australia, with Microsoft becoming an anchor tenant on Telstra’s new ultra-fast intercity fibre network.
- Drive Telstra’s ambition to have about 90 per cent of its applications on public cloud infrastructure by 2025, which includes Microsoft Azure as a preferred cloud partner as part of Telstra’s multi-cloud approach.
- See Telstra launch a dedicated end-to-end Microsoft practice to unlock maximum value for the organisations’ joint customers across their digital transformation journey by combining Microsoft’s cloud, edge and modern work solutions with Telstra’s network leadership and technology experts.
- Increase collaboration between Telstra and Microsoft to support hybrid ways of working and develop environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives.
- Boosting connectivity and harnessing cloud capabilities
Microsoft will also explore boosting its capacity on Telstra’s leading Asia-Pacific subsea cable network.
The organisations will also continue to co-develop products that reimagine familiar experiences and merge the network and the cloud to create new offers. For example, Telstra and Microsoft recently co-developed Branch Offload, Australia’s first 5G-enabled edge computing solution for enterprises. The solution blends Telstra’s 5G and fixed connectivity with Microsoft Azure Stack Edge for edge computing, secure edge, SD-WAN and service orchestration, and is delivered by Telstra Purple.
Telstra CEO Andrew Penn comments: “Our strategic partnership with Microsoft is on a scale not seen before in Australia, and it will be Australian businesses who will benefit at a time when the urgency to digitise and transform their operations has never been greater.”
“Digital technology is foundational to the resilience and differentiation of every organisation,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “Our partnership brings together Telstra’s leadership in network connectivity with the breadth and depth of the Microsoft Cloud to address key challenges, including hybrid work and sustainability, and support Australia’s growth.”
https://www.telstra.com.au/aboutus/media/media-releases/telstra-and-microsoft-sign-five-year-agreement
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