Vodafone and Google have announced a ten-year strategic expansion of their existing partnership, aimed at delivering new services, devices, and enhanced TV experiences to millions of Vodafone customers across Europe and Africa.
Supported by Google Cloud and its advanced Gemini AI models, the partnership will extend Vodafone’s reach to 15 countries directly and 45 additional markets through its partners.
A key focus of the Vodafone and Google partnership is to help consumers take advantage of the latest hardware and digital technologies, including Al and cloud-based applications. Both companies will work together to improve and expand their range of products and services available in stores and online, supported by a refreshed customer experience rooted in the benefits of Al.
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Also, the partnership aims towards enabling Vodafone to offer YouTube subscription-based products and Google One subscription plans, such as storage plans and Al Premium plans to consumers, in addition to offering a range of Pixel and other Android devices. Notably, Vodafone and Google will work towards enhancing Vodafone TV (which is powered by Android TV), using Google Cloud’s advanced gen Al capabilities to provide additional content discovery features, rewards, and offers, as well as content monetization with Google Ad Manager to deliver a better ads experience.
The collaboration will bring a range of key benefits which include;
• Empowering consumers with Al: Vodafone intends to make it easier for consumers to experience the power of Al through a wider range of Al-powered Google Pixel devices and other Android phones coupled with its fast 5G pan-European network. Vodafone will also help customers learn about Al features with improved online guides, dedicated in-store experiences, and freshly trained staff.
• Offering a best-in-class TV platform: Vodafone and Google will work towards Vodafone TV customers enjoying Al-generated search and recommendations for personalized TV content, applications, and rewards. This expands on the news in 2023 that Vodafone’s adoption of Android TV became the preferred platform for Vodafone TV. now live in seven countries.
• Extending the reach of cloud and Al to consumers: Google and Vodafone aim to offer Vodafone’s consumers a range of services built using advanced cloud-based Al. This may include storage for photos, video, and files using Google One, and Google One Al Premium with Gemini Advanced for those who want the extra power of Google’s most capable Al models.
Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone Group CEO, expressed excitement over the partnership’s potential to put Al-powered tools in the hands of millions of consumers across Europe and Africa, helping them discover new ways to create, learn, communicate, and enjoy TV. Google CEO Sundar Pichai echoed these sentiments, highlighting the transformative impact of Al and Google Cloud in empowering small businesses, consumers, and governments.
In his words,
“Our expanded partnership with Vodafone will help bring our most advanced Al products and services, including our Gemini models, to more people across Europe and Africa. I’m excited to see how Vodafone’s consumers, small businesses, and governments, will use generative Al and Google Cloud to transform the way they work and access information.”
Vodafone and Google aim to collaboratively promote the adoption of universal industry standards in key areas such as online safety, responsible AI development, network performance, and interoperability. This effort is expected to drive economies of scale, enhance industrial efficiency, foster innovation, and improve public services on a large scale.
As part of this partnership, Vodafone will leverage AI-powered cloud solutions, content, and connectivity to reach a wider audience.