Vodafone Idea signs multi-million dollar IT deal with IBM

India’s largest telecom operator Vodafone Idea Ltd Friday announced a five-year multi-million-dollar IT outsourcing deal with tech giant IBM. “…this engagement will also contribute to Vodafone Idea’s merger synergy objectives by reducing its IT related costs,” the telecom firm said in a statement. The company did not divulge the size of the deal but some reports pegged it at about USD 700 million. “The collaboration will provide Vodafone Idea with a hybrid cloud based digital platform to enable more intimate engagement with its over 387 million subscribers (as of December 31, 2018), enhancing business efficiency, agility and scale plus simplification of its business processes,” it said.

The new infrastructure platform will remove constraints to exponential growth of data usage driven by increasing consumption of video, streaming and digital commerce, the statement said, adding that it will also drive enhanced customer experience to millions of connected consumers and businesses in India.