Cisco and Telenor Group sign agreement to explore new as-a-service business models and enable a more inclusive internet

SAN JOSE, California — Cisco and the Telenor Group today announced an expanded relationship—through the fifth iteration of their Joint Purpose Agreement (JPA)—to advance strategic priorities that benefit markets in which the companies jointly operate, including Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG); as-a-service and automation innovations; and cybersecurity and multi-cloud as-a-service.

As-a-service and automation innovations

Cisco and Telenor will explore an everything as-a-service (XaaS) flexible and scalable model to reach a broader partner ecosystem and customer base.

Cisco and Telenor plan to accelerate the flexibility, scalability, and availability of cybersecurity solutions as-a-service for both business and consumer customers. The companies will also work to design and demonstrate how multi-cloud as-a-service can help business customers use multiple clouds more effectively and efficiently through end-to-end orchestration, maximised observability and cybersecurity, cloud cost efficiency, and cloud resource optimisation.

Cisco and Telenor will also build upon the success of Security Touch-Free Operations, an initiative established to increase Telenor’s security offering through automation and operational efficiency, helping to substantially reduce cybersecurity threat response times. Moving forward, teams will work on developing cybersecurity automation in Telenor’s Bangladesh operations, Grameenphone, and will also explore the potential of developing use cases for the broader enterprise market.

The successful collaboration will also encompass research and innovation (R&I) with the goal to jointly accelerate time-to-market for emerging and future technologies. Telenor’s R&I leaders are in dialogue with Cisco’s principal researchers in the field of Artificial Intelligence on potential areas of co-creation.

Empowering societies and creating an inclusive future for all

Cisco and Telenor have common ESG values and share a focus on helping people build future digital skills to address societal challenges. The companies will focus on initiatives related to digital skills and inclusion, safe connectivity, youth empowerment and education, and sustainability.

“We made this collaboration extension with Cisco almost a tradition,” said Sigve Brekke, President CEO, Telenor. “That is because we did great things together in the past, and we are continuously able to raise the bar of our collaboration. I am excited we are jointly transforming offerings to an as-a-service model that will enable the broadest base of our customers by using the most advanced, flexible, and simple-to-use cybersecurity and multi-cloud as-a-service.”

“As Cisco and Telenor continue our work together, we can truly power an inclusive future for all by leveraging our shared values and innovation to accomplish even more in the markets we jointly serve,” said Chuck Robbins, Chair and CEO, Cisco. “The extension of our relationship will bolster our efforts to help connect more people and businesses, and positively impact society with enhanced skills for digital inclusion.”

The strengthened collaboration will be governed by a committee chaired by Telenor’s Ruza Sabanovic, EVP and Chief Technology Officer, and Cisco’s Jonathan Davidson, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Cisco Networking, who will ensure structured deliveries for their common goals.