BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- On
Monday at Mobile World Congress, Telefónica and Microsoft Corp. announced a strategic partnership to collaborate on projects
to accelerate Telefónica innovation and transform the telecommunications industry. Building on Telefónica and Microsoft's
previous work together around the use of data and Telefónica's Fourth Platform to power offerings such as Aura, its AI-powered
digital assistant, the new agreement will combine the power of Telefónica's state-of-the-art networks, unique customer
proposition and global reach with the Microsoft Azure AI platform to design services telcos will offer in the future.
"Telefónica has been a leader in using AI to transform customer engagement, and the strategic partnership we announced today
builds on this history of innovation," said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft. "Together, we will
apply the power of Azure and Azure AI to create new, innovative experiences for millions of Telefónica customers around the world
and shape the future of Telefónica's network."
José María Álvarez-Pallete, chairman and CEO of Telefónica, said, "Telefónica is applying cutting-edge technology to its
ongoing transformation, pioneering virtualization and softwarization to develop smart, liquid networks ready to be powered by AI.
Specifically, we are already using AI to enhance our customer relationships and are really excited to work with Microsoft to
further harness the power of Azure AI. This agreement strengthens our relationship and our common belief that AI technology and
the use of data should be based on solid ethical principles and empower people to control their digital lives."
Together, Telefónica and Microsoft will expand the use of Azure Cognitive Services for customer engagement and business
processes, create new AI-powered, in-home experiences for customers, and explore the use of intelligent technologies to transform
the network.
Expanding the use of Azure Cognitive Services for customer engagement
Today, Azure Cognitive Services power Aura, which is embedded in channels such as mobile apps, the company's pay-tv
service and its call centers in Brazil. With this new agreement, Microsoft and Telefónica will
work to explore the extension of Aura and Azure Cognitive Services to all customer relationship channels, such as its contact
centers in other countries, social media and web services, as well as employee- and supplier-facing channels.
New AI-powered, in-home experiences for customers
Building on the success of Aura to control Telefónica services, the two companies will evaluate developing Telefónica's Home as a
Computer (HaaC) vision to use Azure Cognitive Services and Azure AI services with other Telefónica services. Furthering the HaaC
vision, Telefónica and Microsoft will consider the creation of an ecosystem of Aura Living Apps
built on Azure that will run on all Telefónica devices at home. The apps will allow customers to interact with their devices to
do daily activities.
Transforming the network with intelligent technologies
Finally, Microsoft and Telefónica will explore working together to identify opportunities using AI and disruptive
technologies like blockchain, 5G and edge computing to transform services and build the network of the future. The two companies
will collaborate through the creation of a joint working team to explore how AI and machine learning can be applied to optimize
its network, reduce costs and, in turn, drive industrywide transformation. Together, they would create proof of concepts to
demonstrate how these solutions can be used for predictive provisioning, demand capacity and more.
For the outcome of these working groups, Telefonica and Microsoft will implement an intellectual property model based on
Microsoft's Shared Innovation Initiative. As customers take steps to transform their businesses, this initiative is built on a
set of principles designed to provide them with clarity and confidence regarding their co-creation of technology and intellectual
property with Microsoft.
The agreement between Telefónica and Microsoft is further strengthened by the companies' shared commitment to ethics and data
privacy. Both organizations are committed to the responsible and ethical use of customer data and transparency around what data
is being collected and how it's being used, in alignment with GDPR principles. The two companies have further strengthened this
commitment through the training and certification of security experts within ElevenPaths, Telefónica's cybersecurity unit, on
Microsoft's cybersecurity services and technologies.
About Telefónica
Telefónica is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world by market capitalization and number of
customers with a comprehensive offering and quality of connectivity that is delivered over world class fixed, mobile and
broadband networks. As a growing company it prides itself on providing a differential experience based both on its corporate
values and a public position that defends customer interests.
The company has a significant presence in 17 countries and over 356 million accesses around the world. Telefónica has a strong
presence in Spain, Europe and Latin
America, where the company focuses an important part of its growth strategy.
Telefónica is a 100% listed company and its shares are traded on the Spanish Stock Market and on those in London, New York, Lima, and Buenos
Aires.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an
intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
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SOURCE Microsoft Corp.