Telefónica and Microsoft combine private 5G and edge computing for Industry 4.0

According to foreign media reports, Spanish Telefónica has signed an agreement with Microsoft to use its private 5G network and edge computing capabilities in the industrial field. Both parties said that their common vision is to deploy integrated industrial-grade 5G communication and computing solutions at customer sites.

[[399012]]

The deal was struck between the Spanish operator’s digital transformation unit, Telefónica Tech, and Microsoft’s cloud computing business, Azure.

They said the joint Industry 4.0 approach will ensure the highest levels of security, efficiency and performance required to run mission-critical and business-critical applications. Microsoft said "partners like Telefónica are critical to serving the Industry 4.0 market".

"This model accelerates the adoption of new business processes, including in a smart factory concept where digitization of equipment, intensive use of computing and artificial intelligence to facilitate business decisions and security of data, which never leaves the enterprise premises, is key," it said in a statement.

It is worth mentioning that in February this year, Telefónica announced an agreement with Mavenir and AWS to provide managed IoT connectivity to industrial, manufacturing, public sector and automotive customers around the world using Mavenir’s cloud-based packet core solution through AWS cloud infrastructure.