Microsoft announces next-gen hybrid cloud platform for communication service providers at MWC 2024

Date: February 27, 2023

Microsoft announces new telco solutions on its Azure cloud services, aimed at enabling telcos to modernize and monetize their existing infrastructure.

Microsoft announced new features for telcos using its Azure cloud services at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023. 

The features focus on network transformation, automation, AI, network-aware applications, and "ubiquitous computing from cloud to the edge." Jason Zander, Microsoft’s EVP for Strategic Missions and Tech, said that the future hyper scale cloud is going to look very different from the cloud we have today and that it is going to expand, become a highly distributed fabric, and span from 5G to space. 

To achieve this, modern network infrastructure will drive a lower total cost of ownership for its telco partners while helping them modernize and monetize their existing infrastructure. Microsoft is also launching Azure Communications Gateway and Azure Operator Voicemail services, which allow operators to migrate their voicemail services to Azure as a fully managed service. 

The company is also putting emphasis on building network-aware applications, which is about managing quality of service for specific applications.