Vodafone to invest $1.5bn in new Microsoft partnership

Vodafone has signed a 10-year strategic partnership with American software giant Microsoft which will see the UK-listed telecoms group invest $1.5bn over the next decade.

The deal will "bring generative AI, digital services and the cloud to more than 300 million businesses and consumers", Vodafone said in a statement on Tuesday.

In return, Microsoft will use Vodafone's fixed and mobile connectivity services, and invest in its managed internet of things connectivity platform, which will become a separate, standalone business by April 2024.

Vodafone will Microsoft's Azure OpenAI to increase customer satisfaction across all digital touchpoints, including its digital assistant TOBi. The AI capabilities of Microsoft Copilot will also be used by the Vodafone workforce to boost productivity.

It will also use the partnership to further scale its M-Pesa division in Africa through to offer more digital services to the SME market, housing it on Azure to enable the launch of new cloud-native applications.

Meanwhile, Vodafone will distribute Microsoft services like Azure and Microsoft Teams to its business customers across Europe, and accelerate its cloud plans through modernising data centres using Azure.

Vodafone chief executive Margherita Della Valle said the deal marks "a bold commitment to the digital future of Europe and Africa".

She said: "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."