Telstra and Microsoft have signed a five-year deal that will make the operator Microsoft’s largest supplier of fiber capacity in Australia.
A Week in Telecoms: Telstra-Microsoft deal, China’s national cloud, standalone 5G
The deal also makes Microsoft Azure Telstra’s preferred cloud partner in its aim to run up to 90 per cent of services on public cloud infrastructure by 2025 as part of a multi-cloud approach. In addition, the two companies plan to bring to market new cloud-based, managed digital solutions for enterprises, initially in the manufacturing, retail, agriculture, utilities and finance sectors.
China Telecom has announced plans to build a ‘national cloud’ to service state-owned enterprises (SOEs). It’s a scheme driven by the State Asset Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), the national agency for the oversight of China’s SOEs, with the purpose of network and data security and digital transformation.
Vodafone Germany has set targets to provide standalone (SA) technology from all of its 5G sites by 2023. The operator’s 5G SA network already covers 10 million people, and by 2023 it plans to reach 60 million. Philippines operator Now Telecom has also advanced its 5G SA network plans, having made a deal with a subsidiary of US-based infrastructure operator SBA Communications to provide towers and shared equipment.
In satellite news, Eutelsat and OneWeb have signed a provisional agreement to combine their businesses, with the plan to offer connectivity from low Earth orbit (LEO) and geostationary (GEO) satellites. On completion of the agreement, Eutelsat will own all of OneWeb, except for the share owned by the UK government. The deal is expected to close in 2023.