Telefonica’s technology division and Microsoft unveiled a partnership to offer enterprises private 5G connectivity alongside on-premise edge computing, a move the pair hailed as pushing the adoption of smart factories and related use cases.

The partnership involves combining Telefonica Tech’s private 5G connectivity with Microsoft’s Azure Private Edge Zone system.

In a statement, the partners detailed plans to offer integrated communications systems offering “the highest levels of security, efficiency and performance” for business critical applications.

Potential uses cited include processes within smart factories covering digitisation of equipment, enabling AI systems, and cases where data is not required to leave the site.

Telefonica Tech CEO Gonzalo Martin-Villa said the tie-up would take advantage of the specific expertise of each company, and allow it to offer “a framework for the creation, deployment and operation of industrial solutions and private communications in an integrated way inside and outside the factory”.

“This framework is addressing the needs of those enterprises willing to deploy demanding industrial use cases over secure and performant private connectivity, focusing on simplicity, replicability and scalability,” he added.

The partnership is the latest between an operator and technology vendor targeting the enterprise sector covering a variety of segments from developing data services to secure, private 5G networks.