Google bagged another telecom cloud deal, inking a ten-year agreement with Canadian operator Telus to collaborate on 5G, multi-access edge computing (MEC), and development of new products and services.

Under the agreement, Telus will modernise its IT infrastructure using Google’s public cloud for enterprises, and deliver 5G and MEC capabilities to customers using the Anthos for Telecom platform.

Telus will also deploy Google Cloud’s contact centre AI technology to improve customer support operations.

The companies will jointly develop products and services covering communications technology, healthcare, agriculture, security, automation, entertainment and smart homes.

Telus CEO Darren Entwistle called the deal an “important milestone in our longstanding growth strategy, reflecting our team’s unwavering commitment to innovation”.

Thomas Kurian, Google Cloud CEO, added it will help Telus “fuel a fundamental shift to digital, leveraging data and AI to create valuable insights and improve customer experiences in multiple verticals”.

The operator began its 5G rollout in June 2020 and previously outlined plans to invest $40 billion until 2023 to expand the network.

Companies including Sigfox, LG Uplus, Orange, Telefonica, Telia, AT&T and Nokia are among those to have signed up to use Anthos for Telecom since its launch in March 2020.

Google Cloud revenue grew 46.5 per cent year-on-year to $3.8 billion in Q4 2020.