REUTERS: Microsoft and AT&T announced on Wednesday (June 30) that the carrier will use Microsoft’s cloud computing platform to handle essential sections of its 5G wireless network. AT&T’s latest generation of networks, which began rolling out in 2018, are meant to rely more heavily on software and data centers for traffic routing rather than telecommunications-specific equipment.
Microsoft has been building out specific cloud computing offerings to go target carriers, and AT&T represents the Redmond, Washington-based company’s first major gain. Analysts say Microsoft is the second largest cloud computing provider by revenue behind rival Amazon Web Services.
The two also announced that Microsoft will buy AT&T’s software and intellectual property to help Microsoft expand its carrier capabilities. The terms of the agreements were not disclosed, but Microsoft said it will make job offers to several hundred AT&T engineers. The agreement comes after AT&T said in 2019 that it will begin using Microsoft’s cloud for software development and other tasks for $2 billion. AT&T stated at the time that its essential networking activities will continue to be run in its own private data centers. AT&T’s chief technology officer, Andre Fuetsch, said that switching to a public cloud vendor will allow the company to tap into a bigger ecosystem of software developers working on technologies like maximizing the use of expensive 5G spectrum or developing new features for customers.
In an interview with Reuters, Fuetsch said, “That’s what we want to achieve at AT&T, and we think cooperating with Microsoft provides us that advantage.”
Microsoft plans to develop out a product called Azure for Operators, which it will use to go after core network business from telecommunications firms in the 60 regions where it operates, using the newly acquired technology and the experience gained assisting AT&T run the network.
In an interview, Jason Zander, executive vice president of Microsoft Azure, said, “I think we’re going to have operators throughout the world who are extremely interested in that.”/n
