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November 17, 2020

By Steve Canepa, Global GM & Managing Director, IBM Communications Sector

Connectivity sits at the center of everything we do – from our personal lives to our public and professional lives. 

This fundamental concept has long opened the door to many new possibilities. As we watch the potential of 5G and edge computing grow, enterprises across every industry are evaluating how they can drive more value from these powerful technologies.

Today, IBM announced a co-innovation agreement with Bouygues Telecom in France to help businesses identify new ways to use 5G. Our work together comes as the process of rolling out 5G is beginning to take shape across France. 

Together, we will help companies test speed, latency, bandwidth and devices for specific business challenges. The initiative, called “Open Lab 5G,” combines the expertise of Bouygues Telecom with IBM’s deep knowledge of telco infrastructure and business models. Our effort will help companies find ways to harness 5G networks to deliver new solutions that can ultimately redefine entire industries.

This is transformative. Consider what it would be like for 5G to enable telehealth visits with your doctor. Think about the opportunities it presents to improving quality and safety on production lines through sensors on factory floors. 

What this also reveals is a crucial, broader theme we’re seeing across our telco client portfolio: the enterprise technology choices made now – from adopting hybrid cloud, automation and AI to edge computing – are central to how telcos will successfully transform for this next era of communication. 

This appetite for modernization is rapidly growing around the globe, and the world’s leading telcos are choosing IBM time and time again to deliver the expertise and technology capabilities to fuel this journey.

Globally, IBM has implementations underway with leading telcos like AT&T, Verizon, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea Limited. In Europe, we signed a $550M cloud and networking services agreement with Vodafone in Europe, and we recently announced work with Orange Spain and Vodafone Czech.

And most importantly, just last week we introduced the IBM Cloud for Telecommunications with 35+ partners, including Nokia, Samsung and Cisco.

The trust the telco industry has placed in IBM is decades deep. In fact, IBM has worked in the telco industry during many major inflection points throughout history.

And now, telcos are undergoing a time of incredible change yet again as edge, 5G and hybrid cloud converge -- and IBM is their trusted partner to lead them through it. IBM works with 83% of the world’s leading telcos, and 10 of the largest telcos in the world depend on IBM Security. 

Our collaboration with Bouygues Telecom is yet another step forward in this story. And as we look ahead, we continue to be inspired by what’s possible as we drive innovation around one of our most fundamental human needs: how we connect with each other.

Steve Canepa
Global GM & Managing Director, IBM Communications Sector