Alice Chambers |
Australian telecommunications provider Telstra has extended its partnership with Microsoft by five years to accelerate growth and drive value for its customers and those of Microsoft.
The new agreement, which is one of the largest partnerships that Microsoft has established with a telecommunications provider, will involve Telstra becoming Microsoft’s largest supplier of network capacity requirements in Australia. Telstra will also migrate 90 per cent of its applications onto public cloud infrastructure by 2025.
Telstra will also launch an end-to-end Microsoft practice that will provide value for both Telstra and Microsoft customers by combining Microsoft cloud, edge and work solutions with Telstra’s network and technology experts. The agreement will increase the collaboration between the two companies to support hybrid working and environmental, social and governance initiatives across Australia.
The telecommunications provider will also provide a new suite of digital offerings within Telstra Purple – the company’s managed services and technology consulting business – using Azure, Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams to improve hybrid working and cloud migration. These will focus on manufacturing, retail, agriculture, utilities and finance.
“As the go-to partner for Microsoft in Australia, this expanded agreement will turbocharge how we deliver compelling, all-digital experiences,” said Andrew Penn, CEO of Telstra. “The pervasiveness of technology in businesses today and its ability to transform their operations, improve productivity, reduce their environmental impact and meet evolving customer needs means there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.
“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.”
Microsoft will also explore the expansion of its capacity on Telstra’s cable network in the Asia-Pacific region to continue supporting remote working, online education and high-definition online entertainment. Telstra’s access to more bandwidth and reduced latency will help Microsoft to provide better experiences on Microsoft Teams, Xbox and with cloud usage.
“Digital technology is foundational to the resilience and differentiation of every organisation,” said Satya Nadella, CEO of 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.”