Microsoft and AT&T are expanding their existing partnership around 5G and edge computing.
AT&T has been working with Microsoft for several years to test its 5G workloads on Azure. Today, June 30 — the last day of Microsoft’s fiscal 2021 — the pair announced the renewal of their partnership, with Microsoft acquiring AT&T’s carrier-grade Network Cloud platform technology. Does this mean Microsoft is becoming a mobile operator? No. Nor is AT&T getting out of the telco business. The Network Cloud Platform is what AT&T has used to run its 5G technology since 2018. Microsoft plans to take this Network Cloud platform, specifically the intellectual property and technical expertise around it — and bring it to its Azure for Operators telco offering, the pair said.
