Vodacom, Google Cloud team on Africa AI revamp
Vodacom has signed a multi-year deal with Google Cloud to centralise its scattered data systems and roll out artificial intelligence tools across its African operations.
The operator will move key data platforms onto Google’s cloud to tighten governance and enable real-time analysis, then deploy Google’s Vertex AI and Gemini models into areas like customer support, network management and fraud detection. Vodacom also plans to use AI for new products, starting with fintech services aimed at widening access to financial tools, along with business and consumer offerings in digital education and content. CEO Shameel Joosub framed the partnership as part of Vodacom’s wider push to upgrade infrastructure and expand connectivity, which recently included a separate deal with Starlink to improve broadband coverage in rural regions.
More from Telecoms
Vodacom Lesotho is putting more than US$40 million (about LSL 700 million) into upgrading its network and expanding coverage across the country. The o...
Huawei is telling telecom operators to rebuild their networks around artificial intelligence as the sector moves past the mobile internet phase into w...
Orange Tunisie has begun offering satellite broadband in Tunisia using capacity from Eutelsat, under an earlier agreement between the two companies. T...
At MWC Barcelona 2026, GlobalData analyst Andy Hicks argued that voice still matters in the 5G era, but will only regain a central place in telco reve...
Botswana and five other Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries have agreed to cut and align mobile roaming charges under the One Netw...
Satellite communications firm ST Engineering iDirect has entered a strategic partnership with African satellite engineering and service provider Q-KON...