What you need to know
- Microsoft recently announced Azure will be handling AT&T's mobility network.
- The contract could result in over $1 billion per year in Azure revenues, according to analyst insights.
Microsoft is hard at work injecting the power of Azure into anything and everything it can. Just recently, we saw the company figure out how to meld Azure with chocolate via its enhanced partnership with Mars, and now we're seeing its cloud service's presence boom with AT&T via a new strategic alliance.
Here's a quick excerpt from Microsoft's press writeup to get you up to speed on the deal: "AT&T will move its 5G mobile network to the Microsoft cloud. This strategic alliance provides a path for all of AT&T's mobile network traffic to be managed using Microsoft Azure technologies."
The benefits for Microsoft are access to AT&T's IP, and the growth of Azure for Operators. There's also the monetary aspect to consider.
According to Rosenblatt Securities analyst John McPeake, Microsoft's AT&T alliance could net the tech giant's Azure service over $1 billion per annum as the years go on (via Benzinga). The deal is predicted to hold "measurable impact" as an easily financially defineable boon for Microsoft.
This financial analysis is noteworthy given that Microsoft and AT&T did not disclose the specific monetary details of their strategic teamup. "Microsoft will assume responsibility for both software development and deployment of AT&T's Network Cloud immediately and bring AT&T's existing network cloud to Azure over the next three years," the Microsoft presser reads. "The companies are not disclosing details on financial terms."
McPeake's insights on the deal's financial optics help give an idea of its scope alongside other major Microsoft deals (such as its $10 billion JEDI Pentagon contract).
