The mobile operator Vodafone has just sealed a 10-year partnership with the tech giant Microsoft, in a bid to reshape digital services for over 300 million businesses and consumers across the UK, Europe, and Africa. 

Under the deal, Vodafone said it will inject $1.5 billion (£1.18bn) into the partnership, to focus on the development of cloud and customer-centric AI services. The significant investment is expected to elevate customer experience by leveraging Microsoft Azure OpenAI, providing real-time, personalised experiences across all Vodafone customer touchpoints.

“This new generation of AI will unlock massive new opportunities for every organisation and every industry around the world,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO, Microsoft. 

“We are delighted that together with Vodafone we will apply the latest cloud and AI technology to enhance the customer experience of hundreds of millions of people and businesses across Africa and Europe, build new products and services, and accelerate the company’s transition to the cloud.”

Microsoft will also look to capitalise on Vodafone’s fixed and mobile connectivity services, particularly the operator’s managed Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity platform which is now poised to become a standalone entity by April this year. 

The platform already connects 175 million devices and platforms worldwide. Vodafone is looking to integrate the Azure ecosystem, which would make the IoT platform accessible to the third-party community via open APIs. 

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Vodafone will also expedite its cloud transformation by modernising its data centres with Microsoft Azure. According to them, this move will enhance responsiveness to customers, simplify operational costs, and build a sustainable business strategy by replacing physical data centres with virtual ones. 

The collaboration will also help scale M-Pesa, Africa’s largest fintech platform, by hosting it on Azure and introducing cloud-native applications. This move will impact an estimated 100 million consumers, and 1 million SMEs in Africa through digital literacy, skilling, youth outreach programs, and digital services.

“This unique 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,” said Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone Group chief executive.