The deal is designed to increase the operator’s use of cloud technology and enable it to offer 5G and edge services to enterprise customers.
Telenor group has outlined plans to work with Amazon Web Services (AWS) develop new services for industries including manufacturing, logistics and automotive.
As part of the agreement, Telenor will become join the AWS Partner Network, although the two already collaborated before this agreement was reached.
Vimla inspires
Telenor’s CEO, Sigve Brekke, told Reuters his company is preparing “for the next growth wave” and highlighted the success of Telenor’s Swedish MVNO, Vimla, as an examplar of how intelligent application of new tech can disrupt existing business models.
Vimla’s core is based on AWS, and its services were developed and are offered as-a-service by Working Group Two (WG2).
This joint venture was set up in 2017 by Telenor, Cisco and Digital Alpha to develop a cloud-native mobile core on AWS that could be used by network operators, managed service providers or enterprises. It went live early in 2018.
Telenor has said it intends to take the same approach to other areas of the group, and to concentrate more on enterprise customers in the Nordics and Asia.
Horses for courses
Telenor signed up with Google Cloud in 2021 to access its AI capabilities.
Brekke explained to Reuters that while AWS’s strength is network components, the Google Cloud collaboration was more about products and analytics.
With AWS, Telenor currently offers what is calls “network on wheels” – a prototype that allows customers to set up private 5G infrastrucutre wherever they need it.
The prototype is in use by the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency for critical communication and the public broadcaster Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK) for remote production.
In Thailand, Telenor-owned dtac set up a 5G proof of concept private network for enterprises there, based on edge computing and the AWS Snow Family.