Vodacom parent partners with Google on GenAI phones, services

Vodafone – parent company of Pan-African operator Vodacom – announced a partnership with Google to bring cloud services, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools and cybersecurity to customers in Africa and Europe.

Google announced the ten-year strategic expansion of an existing partnership with Vodafone, saying it would bring new services, devices and TV experiences to Vodafone's customers, supported by Google Cloud and Google's Gemini artificial intelligence (AI) models.

The agreement will bring storage, security, cloud-based applications and AI assistance to Vodafone's customers in 15 countries, as well as its partners in an additional 45 markets worldwide, while Google will use Vodafone's fixed and mobile connectivity services to improve workforce productivity.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, said the expanded partnership with Vodafone will help bring advanced AI products and services, including 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 AI and Google Cloud to transform the way they work and access information," Pichai added.

The companies say they want to make it easier for consumers to "experience the power of AI" via a wider range of AI-powered Google Pixel devices and other Android phones.

Vodafone will also help customers learn about AI features with improved online guides, dedicated in-store experiences, and freshly trained staff.

"Together, Vodafone and Google will put new AI-powered content and devices into the hands of millions of more consumers. Using these services, our customers can discover new ways to learn, create and communicate, as well as consume TV, on a scale we haven't seen before," Vodafone Group CEO Margherita Della Valle said.

Enhanced TV, cloud and cybersecurity features

In terms of the TV services, the companies are working toward enhancing Vodafone TV (which is powered by Android TV), using Google Cloud's GenAI 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 teams are also exploring a more deeply integrated YouTube experience across Vodafone TV devices.

The partnership aims to bring new services, devices and TV experiences to Vodafone's customers, supported by Google Cloud and Google's Gemini models. (Source: DC Studio on Freepik)

On the cloud front, Vodafone and Google Cloud already have a track record of collaboration and Vodafone's data and existing AI and data analytics services are already housed on Google Cloud.

"With the expanded partnership, Vodafone will use Vertex AI, Google Cloud's enterprise-ready AI platform, to build, deploy, and scale machine learning models and AI applications powered by Google's Gemini models. This will help increase the speed and ease with which Vodafone's operating companies in multiple countries can innovate and launch new products," the groups said in a statement.

Vodafone aims to offer its business customers enhanced cybersecurity via a soon-to-be-developed cloud-native cybersecurity solution, utilizing Google Cloud's Security Operations platform. It will provide security incident and event management, as well as the latest software-based protection tools.

Vodafone & Vodacom's African footprint

Vodafone provides mobile and fixed services to over 330 million customers in 15 countries.

Vodafone owns a 65.1% stake in South African-headquartered Vodacom, which operates across Africa in Mozambique, South Africa, Lesotho, Egypt, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Tanzania.

Vodacom also owns a stake in Safaricom, which operates in Kenya and Ethiopia.

In April 2020, Vodacom took over the management of Vodafone Ghana. However, there was no transfer of assets, and in February 2023 Vodafone sold its 70% stake in Vodafone Ghana to Telecel Group for an undisclosed sum.

In early 2024, Telecel Group announced it was rebranding Vodafone Ghana to Telecel.

Last month, Vodacom South Africa introduced a cloud-based mobile phone aimed at reducing the cost of smartphone access in the country and accelerating customer migration from legacy networks to modern 4G networks.

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— Paula Gilbert, Editor, Connecting Africa