Microsoft Telecommunications Industry News | April 2021

NEWSLETTER Microsoft in Telecom Customers Partners Events
Bob De Haven
General Manager, Worldwide
Media & Communications
Hi folks,
I’m amazed to see our tremendous growth in the industry in this quarter. There’s plenty to be optimistic
about. With COVID vaccines readily available to more and more people worldwide in the coming months,
we will hopefully begin transitioning back to the post-COVID landscape. I know I’m not alone when I say
that I can’t wait to get back into in person customer and partner meetings. We’re forging ahead with
getting customers ready for the new normal. Proud to see TIM Brazil to move 100% of their datacenters to
the cloud.
If one thing’s for sure, organizations in the telco space have transformed rapidly in this unprecedented
year. I’m excited to share The Network, Microsoft’s newest podcast series focused on digital resilience and
acceleration of technology for the telco industry, with stories from business leaders around the globe.
MICROSOFT IN TELECOM
Empowering operators on their cloud migration journey
When it comes to operators’ path to cloud migration, there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-
all solution. Operators have unique needs for security, observability, resiliency, and
performance. As a result, Microsoft offers a level of support for operators that is far greater
than simply taking existing cloud services and repackaging them. We understand that it is
critically important to know exactly what operator workloads require.
| April 2021

In this blog, we delve into one such example of Microsoft’s commitment to operators and to developing a hands-on product strategy born from
years of research. This has led directly to solutions that we offer operators today as part of Azure of Operators.
Microsoft leaders’ perspective on the transformation in the
telecommunications industry
In this video, Microsoft telecommunications industry leaders
provide their perspective on the current transformation in the
telecommunications industry, the immediate challenges, and the
opportunities that should be top-of-mind for telco business
leaders.
The Network: Media, entertainment, and telecommunications
transformed
This piece focuses on how the media, entertainment and telco industries
imagine new ways to accelerate innovation and improve customer
experiences as more organizations adopt cloud-based services. Host Steve
Franklin, Microsoft’s global marketing director for both industries, leads
these fascinating conversations.

Podcast: Microsoft Azure's Khalidi curates carrier clouds
Yousef Khalidi, corporate VP of Azure for Operators at Microsoft
and a member of the founding team of Azure, joins the podcast to
discuss how his role has evolved to working on Azure for
Operators. Khalidi explains why working with service providers
requires a different approach to enterprise customers.
LF Edge’s State of the Edge 2021: Global Edge Computing Infrastructure
Market to be Worth Up to $800 Billion
Hybrid and multi-cloud solutions from major players like Microsoft Azure
are extending the cloud experience to far flung locations with the promise
of a consistent application and operations experience - read more to
understand Microsoft's thoughts on the promise of the edge.
Network Planning: A More Power-full Approach
Like most people, I was horrified by the Texas power grid’s recent
failure and the devastating impact on many citizens’ lives. I think
many people wondered how something like this could happen. As
someone in the telecommunications industry, it occurred to me
that the power and telecommunications sector face similar
planning issues.
A hyperscale public cloud provider’s role in operator networks and
private 5G
During a recent industry event, Metaswitch CTO, Martin Taylor, spoke in-
depth about the role large public cloud providers are poised to play in
evolving service provider infrastructures.
Metaswitch: Azure Edge - Single platform for delivering
enterprise 5G
Built on the Azure Stack Edge platform, Azure Private Edge Zones
are small-footprint extensions of Azure that are deployed on a
Metaswitch supports dtac Business cloud-based service for SMEs
Metaswitch Business Services solutions have powered an innovative new
offering from dtac, one of the largest mobile operators in Thailand. dtac
business, which delivers services to small and large businesses, recently

customer premise. This distributed public cloud offering enables
low latency access to localized computing and storage. This enables
enterprises to deploy industrial IoT applications together with 5G
network functions and other networking components as Azure
managed services.
launched a cloud-based phone service called dtac OneCall for small- and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which is built on Metaswitch’s Max UC,
our Unified Communications (UC) and Collaboration solution portfolio.
ADDITIONAL NEWS
▪ Microsoft accelerates industry cloud strategy with the acquisition
of Nuance
▪ Business Services for the New Worker Paradigm
▪ Microsoft sharpens edge focus with Marsden buy | FierceTelecom
▪ Microsoft prioritizes telco space, highlights Azure's growth
▪ MTN shows acceleration of webscalers’ blockbuster growth in
telecoms
▪ Orchestrated Multi-Edge Clouds - MEF
▪ MPTC, Microsoft agree to promote digitalisation in Cambodia
▪ Rubén Caballero: Another adventure and loving it!
▪ What are Metaswitch Business Services?
▪ Microsoft announces significant investments to further Canadian
innovation and growth
▪ Building Computer Vision, and Speech edge AI applications is a
breeze with Azure Percept
▪ Announcing Azure AD Verifiable Credentials
▪ Deepen the value chain for geospatial earth imagery on cloud
using Azure Orbital
▪ Danielle Royston, TelcoDR: On buying Ericsson's MWC stand and the
public cloud-telco opportunity
▪ Edge Secured-core: Azure Certified IoT devices with built-in security
▪ Innovate across hybrid and multicloud with new Azure Arc capabilities
▪ Our commitment to expand Azure Availability Zones to more regions
▪ What’s new for Teams phones | Microsoft Tech Community
▪ Automate note-taking in Microsoft Teams with meeting transcription
▪ The public cloud can come to your private data center, here's how
▪ Microsoft adds Azure routing preference for user flexibility
▪ Battle for Telcos: Next Phase in War for Global UCaaS Domination
▪ Channel Convergence: What Does This Mean for MSPs?
▪ Microsoft Shows Off Its First Azure Orbital Ground Station
▪ Cloud Computing Will Be a Goldmine in the Post Covid-Era
▪ Azure IoT Edge 1.2.0 release is now generally available
▪ Microsoft targets cloud AI boost with $19.7B Nuance deal
▪ 5G innovations for agriculture food resiliency
CUSTOMERS

AT&T Debuts the 5G Innovation Studio
AT&T is officially opening the doors to a new innovation space – the AT&T 5G Innovation
Studio. The studio, located in Plano, Texas, brings together the power of AT&T’s business,
consumer and network organizations to accelerate the path to market for new 5G-centric
product offerings and key initiatives. You can even take a virtual look around today. In this
space, AT&T will work with customers and industry collaborators to ideate, test and
validate new 5G-centric applications across a variety of industries.
“We recently worked with Microsoft and the drone company EVA to deploy a test environment representative of our Microsoft Azure Edge Zone
with AT&T. The environment, enabled by AT&T Network Edge, was equipped with cloud services including Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) to host
EVA’s drone command control application. The low latency of 5G combined with Eva’s app deployed at the network edge on Azure enabled
autonomous drone control beyond visual line of sight. This proof of concept, along with ease of network and cloud scalability, demonstrates how
AT&T and Microsoft’s technologies will enable the future of drone delivery in metro areas.”
NTT developers create popular chatbot quickly using Microsoft
Teams and RPA, boosting employee efficiency and morale
NTT Communications Corporation helps its clients make digital
transformation (DX) a reality by providing the infrastructure services
needed to go online and go digital. It has actively pushed its own DX
using Microsoft Teams. As part of that effort, the company developed,
in-house, a simpler way for employees to sign in to its duty
management system (DMS). It combined a chatbot with robotic process
automation to create Oruri-chan, which is Japanese for “flycatcher.”
Developers lowered potential resistance to adopting Oruri-chan by
using the familiar Microsoft Teams as its platform. T
T-Mobile adopts Microsoft Power Platform for fast and powerful
low-code development
One of the largest wireless carriers in the United States, T-Mobile
always seeks to improve its business processes and gain greater insight
into operations. With low-code development using Microsoft Power
Platform, T-Mobile employees from all different backgrounds—
computer science experts to coding novices—now develop solutions
themselves that help the company with everything from device
promotion approvals to store closure management in response to
COVID-19. T-Mobile has a thriving internal Microsoft Power Platform
community and is creating a T-Mobile Center of Excellence to promote
further low-code development.

Granite uses Metaswitch Perimeta SBC to deliver their Direct Routing
solution to customers
Direct Routing for Microsoft Teams is quickly becoming a must have for
SMBs and enterprises. Watch as Marguerite Cogliano, Product
Development Manager and Shawn McElroy, Director of Telephony
Engineering of Granite Telecommunications discuss how they are using
the Metaswitch Perimeta SBC to deliver their Direct Routing solution to
customers.
TIM is the first carrier in Brazil to migrate 100% of its datacenters to
the cloud
Anticipating the market, TIM announces another stage in its digital
transformation journey with focus on its customers. The company
becomes the first carrier in Brazil to announce the migration of 100%
of its datacenter, located in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, to a multi-
cloud environment. Following its strategy, the carrier has just signed a
partnership with Microsoft and Oracle, which will allow the company to
improve customer service processes, internal operations, billing, speed
the collection and management of digital platforms, scalability, and
security, in a project that combines innovation, sustainability and
efficiency.
SoftBank Corp. quickly develops app with Azure Kubernetes Service
(AKS), improves in-store service for customers
The IT Division at SoftBank Corp. plans, develops, and operates systems
in the domestic telecom provider arena (mobile and landline networks).
The IT Division constantly seeks to advance its engineers’ skills and
approaches to problem solving and to proactively create learning
opportunities in new technologies. Starting around 2017, the division
introduced the agile development method, wanting to take advantage
of its ability to give young engineers lots of practical experience. Now, a
new success story is being written at SoftBank using advanced
technology to improve engineers’ skills. A business department
Maxis and Microsoft strengthen partnership to support an
expanding digital workforce
Maxis and Microsoft continue to leverage their combined strengths to
provide innovative digital solutions to business in Malaysia. The latest
step in their partnership sees both companies modernizing the digital
workforce for increased productivity, efficiency, and convenience.
Maxis has introduced its Digital Workspace solutions as part of its
expanding Maxis Business suite of services and solutions, becoming
the first in the market to offer an all-inclusive managed laptop solution
with built-in data connectivity from Maxis. This means businesses will
be able to set up their office securely from anywhere they are and be

supervisor serves as “product owner,” and the IT Division coordinates
closely with the business department in a process of agile development.
supported by Microsoft Office 365 and other leading software
solutions in a bundled package.
Microsoft facilitates Vodafone’s Group Data Centre (GDC) journey to
hybrid cloud
Vodafone highlighted early successes in a major, ongoing
re-platforming exercise for desktop and application remote access,
bringing a well-timed enhancement of flexibility and functionality in the
post-COVID-19 environment.
The prescient refit, being run by Vodafone’s Group Data Centre (GDC)
organization, is seeing the operator shift to a “next-generation”, hybrid
cloud-based platform to support an estimated 100,000-plus users
across Local Markets, Group functions, and external partners.
Telstra drives broader network connections - Microsoft Advertising
In partnership with their full-service digital agency, Resolution, Telstra
set out to increase customer orders derived from their online channels.
The Resolution team looked to the Microsoft Advertising account team
of Sam Atwood (Account Executive) and Natalie Takchi (Account
Manager) to exceed these sales targets. Historical performance showed
that campaigns with Microsoft Advertising were much more cost
effective than the leading search competitor, delivering a 51% lower
cost per acquisition than similar campaigns on other platforms.
Naturally, given the focus on online conversions and cost efficiency,
Microsoft Advertising paid search campaigns provided an ideal
solution to include in their digital marketing campaigns.
Verizon turns Microsoft Teams into your enterprise phone system
You may have chosen Microsoft Teams® as your collaboration tool. But are you connected with the outside world? Verizon’s new offering,
Verizon Calling with Microsoft Teams, allows you to expand your unified communication capabilities outside of your enterprise network—all on a
single platform.
ADDITIONAL NEWS

▪ Africa’s Talking simplifies access to telco infrastructure via APIs
with Azure Arc
▪ Mobilezone connects the dots with Dynamics 365 for richer
customer engagement, enhanced shopping experiences
▪ Transport for NSW presses pedal to the metal on digital
transformation
▪ Businesses can set up office anywhere with Maxis digital
workspace
▪ Microsoft, CHT, Teco team up for Industry 4.0
▪ CallTower Rolls Out Native Microsoft Teams Direct Routing Unlimited
Conferencing
▪ 8x8 Launches 8x8 Contact Center for Microsoft Teams
▪ ODA and APIs help M1 transform into cloud native DSP
▪ TIM Brasil moves entirely to the cloud with Oracle, Microsoft
▪ RXR Realty reopens for business using Azure IoT and the intelligent
edge to empower tenant safety
PARTNERS
Nokia partners with Microsoft on cloud solutions for enterprise
Nokia today announced an agreement with Microsoft to develop new
market-ready 4G and 5G private wireless use cases designed for
enterprises. The collaboration will combine Nokia’s Cloud RAN (vRAN)
technologies with Microsoft Azure cloud-based services and developer
ecosystem to drive end-user functionality via new business cases. The
initiative supports Nokia’s strategy of partnering with best-in-class
public cloud providers to drive end-user business outcomes essential
for monetizing 4G/5G deployments.
Empirix KLEARITY® Service Assurance for 5G now available on
Microsoft Azure
Empirix is a leading provider of carrier-grade customer experience
assurance for the 5G era, empowering Communications Service
Providers (CSPs) and Enterprises to deliver high quality digital service
(voice, data & IoT) experiences and deep insights with KLERITY, the
world’s first cloud-native, by design, monitoring and service assurance
solution.
KLERITY’s cloud-native monitoring and service assurance capabilities
support a broad range of hybrid (physical, virtual, cloud) networks
(3G/4G/5G/Wireline Telco, IT and IoT) and Use Cases (eg Analytics,
CEM, Enterprise/private 5G, Industrial IoT monitoring and analytics, and
network slice monetization) enhanced by automation and AI/ML, and
available under a subscription-based business model that provides up
to 40% reduction in TCO versus traditional assurance systems.

Preventing Fraud with Biometrics by Enhancing Telco Customer
Experiences
Using Nuance’s biometric authentication and fraud prevention
solutions, telcos can improve customer experiences, increase profits,
protect their customers and their brands from fraud, and tap into all
the benefits of Microsoft Azure and AI services. Microsoft’s Azure cloud
delivers security advantages to telcos on an innovative and trusted
platform that underpins Nuance Gatekeeper.
In a recent white paper, Nuance and Microsoft reveal why telcos must
start embracing biometrics in order to maximize fraud prevention and
facilitate exceptional, frictionless customer experiences across channels.
Explore an overview of the white paper below.
IDEMIA Collaborates with Microsoft to Deliver Secure, Digital Verified
Credentials Solution
IDEMIA, a global leader in Augmented Identity, announced today that it
is collaborating with Microsoft to support its new Microsoft Azure
Active Directory (Azure AD) verifiable credentials identity solution, now
in public preview. Azure AD verifiable credentials enable organizations
to confirm information about individuals, such as their education,
professional or citizenship certifications, without collecting or storing
their personal data.
AudioCodes Selected by Algar Telecom to Deliver Microsoft Teams as
a Managed Service
AudioCodes, a leading vendor of advanced communications software,
products and productivity solutions for the digital workplace, today
announced that it has been selected by leading Brazilian
communications service provider, Algar Telecom, to deliver Microsoft
Teams unified communications and collaboration, including
comprehensive Direct Routing voice connectivity, as a managed service.
Powered by the AudioCodes Live Cloud for Microsoft Teams managed
offering, Algar’s hosted Microsoft Teams service enables business

customers to migrate their existing voice infrastructure simply and
cost-effectively to Microsoft Teams and enjoy reliable voice calling, all
delivered on a monthly subscription basis.
ADDITIONAL NEWS
▪ Bandwidth announces a comprehensive Direct Routing & E911
solution with Duet℠ for Microsoft Teams | Bandwidth
▪ Socure to Provide Identity Verification for Microsoft Azure Active
Directory Verifiable Credentials | Socure
▪ Microsoft partners with leading ID verification partner IDEMIA Group
| IDEMIA
▪ Ciena Insights Podcast: Software is the Secret Sauce: Singapore’s M1
Prepares for 5G | Ciena
▪ Contact Centre for Microsoft Teams Tech Clinic webinar on-demand |
Enghouse
▪ How to Choose a Microsoft CSP Billing Platform? 10 Must-Ask
Questions | interworks.cloud
▪ Voice enabling Teams - the quiet revolution that needs shouting
about, Podcast | Call2Teams
▪ Plenom release their most requested feature for Microsoft Teams -
‘Call Alert’ | Plenom
▪ Ribbon expands Microsoft relationship & support with New Operator
Connect services offered | Ribbon Communications
▪ How to Choose a Microsoft CSP Billing Platform? 10 Must-Ask
Questions | interworks.cloud
▪ Alkira Teams Up with Microsoft to Transform the Cloud Networking
Journey to Azure | Alkira
▪ NTR-X Next Generation Compliance Recording & Microsoft Teams |
NICE
EVENTS

FutureNet World | Join Microsoft on April 20 in Foe or Friend: Can
telcos & hyperscalers truly collaborate & co-create to achieve
commercial gains?
At FutureNet World we discuss the strategic & commercial priorities
in today’s digital world and the considerations for the future of the
network. Dedicated to driving the agenda around ‘Network
Automation and AI’, a key foundational pillar for the next wave of
growth in telecoms.
Mobile operators, it’s time to get your mojo back | FutureNet World
Mobile operators are about to become liberated in a way that they’ve
never felt before. And I choose that word because what’s happening with
the convergence of cloud, edge computing, and the everything-as-a-
service consumption model is an unburdening for mobile operators that,
for the first time, allows them to soar with the startups and service
innovators.
The After Show Live – DSP Revenue Streams | TelecomTV
The After Show was broadcast live at the end of Day Five of the DSP
Leaders World Forum 2021. TelecomTV’s Guy Daniels and Ray Le
Maistre were joined by panelists for this end-of-day question and
answer session. Among the questions raised by our audience were:
• How important is edge roaming to the development of the
telco edge services market?
• Will the edge services market only take off and be cost-
effective once the market develops better-performing silicon
and new acceleration options?
• Telcos can’t be expected to come up with all the new service
ideas themselves, so is there a better way for them to partner
commercially with third-party providers to generate new service
revenue?
Edge as a driver of new service revenues | TelecomTV
There are plenty of research studies that value the Telco Edge service
revenue opportunity at multiple billions of dollars. There’s no denying its
promise. But how do telcos realise this potential? Are vertical services a
viable choice, or are telcos better off focusing on horizontal edge services?
Does it have unique attributes, or is the Edge just a locally-extended
cloud?
We ask the panelists whether or not there is a danger of assuming the
presence of physical locations equates to new revenue, whether telcos
should adopt an App Store approach to the Edge, and if there is too much
talk about low latency being a key criterion for Edge success?

CCA Mobile Carriers Show | Featuring Metaswitch
CCA’s Mobile Carriers Show is the only North American event to
focus exclusively on smart strategies, technology innovations, and
business opportunities for carriers in this increasingly mobile world.
As a result, it brings together more senior decision makers from
more carrier organizations than any other tradeshow in the United
States.
5G MENA 2021 Digital Symposium | Meet with Affirmed Experts
AT&T, Vodafone, Orange, 3UK, Turkcell, and other tier 1 operators are
opening new revenue opportunities in the enterprise space, deploying
private LTE and mobile edge compute infrastructure and applications. To
learn how these tier 1 operators are implementing Affirmed Networks’
webscale solutions for any G and 5G mobile services, meet with our
experts virtually at the 5G MENA 2021 Digital Symposium.
ADDITIONAL EVENTS
▪ Microsoft Envision Forum 2021
▪ Why telcos are struggling to make money in AdTech
and possible solutions with InMobi
▪ Microsoft Azure Orbital update
▪ Deploying virtualised 5G networks in practice
▪ The Network: Optimizing Next-Gen Telco Networks
▪ The Network: Telco’s Customer Experience Goes Digital
▪ The Network: Empowering the Telco Workforce
▪ NVIDIA GPU Technology Conference | Tune in to learn about Edge
AI and Azure Percept
RESOURCES Learn more about Microsoft and the Telco industry
© Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved

Microsoft Telecommunications Industry News | April 2021

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Microsoft Telecommunications Industry News | April 2021