Microsoft announced that it is launching its next-generation hybrid cloud platform “Azure Operator Nexus” for communication service providers.

The all-in-one platform will allow the telecom companies to run their carrier-grade workloads both on-premises and on Azure. It will assist its telecommunications firms to improve and monetise their existing infrastructure while also lowering their overall cost of ownership according to the company.

The features focus on network transformation, automation, AI, network-aware applications, and “ubiquitous computing from cloud to the edge.” Jason Zander, Microsoft’s EVP for Strategic Missions and Tech, said. He further added that the future hyper scale cloud is going to look very different from the cloud we have today and that it is going to expand, become a highly distributed fabric, and span from 5G to space.

To achieve this, modern network infrastructure will drive a lower total cost of ownership for its telco partners while helping them modernize and monetize their existing infrastructure. Microsoft is also launching Azure Communications Gateway and Azure Operator Voicemail services, which allow operators to migrate their voicemail services to Azure as a fully managed service.

“AT&T made the decision to adopt Azure Operator Nexus platform over time with expectation to lower total cost of ownership, leverage the power of AI to simplify operations, improve time to market and focus on our core competency of building the world’s best 5G service,” said Igal Elbaz, Senior Vice President, Network CTO, AT&T.

The company will further launch two new “AIOps” services “Azure Operator Insights” and “Azure Operator Service Manager”. Operator Insights uses machine learning to help operators analyze the massive amounts of data they gather from their network operations and troubleshoot potential issues, while Service Manager helps operators generate insights about their network configurations.