Cisco and Telenor Group Sign Agreement to Explore New As-A-Service Business Models and Enable a More Inclusive Internet for the Future

• Cisco and Telenor extend their relationship to explore and develop new business opportunities, joint research, and innovation.
• Plans include:
  • Developing new flexible and scalable as-a-service business models to accelerate services adoption in cybersecurity and multi-cloud.
  • Further accelerating the Internet for the Future to connect more people and businesses with unified experiences, including digital skills training programs.

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 16, 2023 — 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, maximized observability and cybersecurity, cloud cost efficiency, and cloud resource optimization.

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.

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.

About the JPA

In 2018, Cisco and Telenor Group initiated a cooperative relationship to support digital transformation and have since collaborated on enhancing connected experiences for Telenor customers with improved 5G, cloud, data analysis, IoT, Open vRAN, Smart City, and security solutions, through several iterations of the JPA.

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About Telenor

Telenor Group is a leading telecommunications company across the Nordics and Asia with 158 million subscribers and annual sales of around USD 9.9 billion (2022). We are committed to responsible business conduct and driven by the ambition of empowering societies. Connectivity has been Telenor’s domain for more than 165 years, and our purpose is to connect our customers to what matters most. Telenor is listed at Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker TEL. For more information, visit https://www.telenor.com/