Telenor and Microsoft merge in the cloud

Telenor and Microsoft have signed a global syndication agreement to merge in the cloud. Telenor is enabled to sell licenses for Office 365 as well as the company's other services. Telenor will offer a telephony service within Lync Online from Microsoft Office 365. It will launch Office 365 in January 2013 and expects to have the solution for voice integration ready for the market during the fourth quarter of 2013.

Telenor Norway will, in cooperation with Telenor Business Internet Services (Telenor's cloud services company) will offer the solution to its business customers. The agreement means that they will receive two professional business solutions as a single integrated package: Telenor's mobile business network 'Mobilt Bedriftsnett' and Microsoft Office 365 along with voice.

"Through this agreement, we are expanding our provision of cloud computing services with a solution that covers the communication needs of companies in one single package. We think this will satisfy a market need that is currently not being met," says Telenor's manager of the business market Bjørn Ivar Moen.

"We are delighted that Telenor is launching a service that brings together the best of both our worlds," says Dagfinn Ringas, director of business and partners at Microsoft Norway.

"With Telenor's telephony services fully integrated into Lync Online and Office 365, companies will be able to optimise their telecomms, collaboration and IT infrastructure. We have already seen considerable interest amongst customers for this type of solution in the markets where Telenor will be launching the service," says Ringas.

The two business solutions, Mobilt Bedriftsnett and Office 365, are accessible in the cloud and run by the Telenor and Microsoft data centres. This enables economies of scale and the solution will be equally accessible to all companies regardless of size.