Telstra has won an A$1.9 million (US$1.9 million) contract with the Australian arm of Healthways to provide a private cloud service for the telehealth provider. As part of the same deal, the operator will work with Healthways to develop a remote monitoring service for diabetic patients, according to The Australian.

The two companies have struck a three-year agreement. The main part of the agreement involves Healthways shifting data onto Telstra’s cloud-based servers. Will Irving, head of Telstra’s business division, said the contract would help the operator improve its understanding of the health sector which is one of the sectors where the operator sees huge potential for mobile and cloud-based services, he said.

The two companies have not struck a deal to share intellectual property that might result from the deal but Irving said the partnership will give the operator an insight into patient behaviour and how best to use its network for offering health-based services.

Telstra and Healthways are in the midst of a patient monitoring trial for HCF, an Australian private health insurer, using smartphones to track the blood sugar level of diabetes. The patients’ glucometers send blood sugar readings over Bluetooth to the patients’ smartphones which then upload the readings via the cellular network. The trial involves about 50 patients and is in its early stages.This new approach reduces the equipment cost of setting up a telehealth service, the partners claim. Future devices could include a Bluetooth-enabled scales, says the report.