Google and Vodafone will create a new cloud-based platform to host and process the telecoms company’s data under a new partnership.

Dubbed Nucleus, the platform will have the capacity to process around 50 terabytes of data per day, equivalent to 25,000 hours of HD film. Vodafone will transfer its existing data to Google Cloud under the deal. In addition, the platform will receive new information from 5000 data feeds.

The six-year deal will see 1,000 of Vodafone and Google’s staff from the UK, US, and Spain collaborate to help develop the project. The platform will use customer data to produce new insights, improving relationships and boosting customer retention.

Vodafone will use the insights to help create and deploy new digital services in multiple countries simultaneously, targeting enterprise and consumer customers.

To help facilitate this, both companies will also develop a system called ‘Dynamo’. This can extract and transport data across different countries where Vodafone operates.

In addition, both companies are also planning to sell consultancy services to other multinational businesses looking to move huge amounts of data to the cloud in the future.

Vodafone CTO Johan Wibergh said: “Vodafone is building a powerful foundation for a digital future. We have vast amounts of data which, when securely processed and made available across our footprint using the collective power of Vodafone and Google Cloud’s engineering expertise, will transform our services, to our customers and governments, and the societies where they live and serve.”

The company has identified 700 different use cases for the technology, including the ability to automatically spot when a customer needs a speed boost, to rolling out products across different areas using the same underlying infrastructure.

The platform will also support fact-based decision-making, reduce costs, remove duplication of data sources, and simplify and centralise operations.

In addition, the system will give Vodafone the capacity to create a digital twin of its own network. This will allow it to test new versions of its systems in a digital environment, trialling them before making changes in the physical version.

For Vodafone customers, the platform will also help enhance the company’s content and connectivity services and increase the number of smart network services in its Google Cloud footprint.

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The deal extends an existing partnership between the two companies. Vodafone started hosting its data on the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) over two years ago.

With telecoms companies producing vast amounts of user data, tech giants like Google have provided the technology needed to utilise the information. This includes providing cheaper hosting for the data to using advanced AI to analyse it.

Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian commented: “Telecommunications firms are increasingly differentiating their customer experiences through the use of data and analytics, and this has never been more important than during the current pandemic.

“We are thrilled to be selected as Vodafone’s global strategic cloud partner for analytics and SAP, and to co-innovate on new products that will accelerate the industry’s digital transformation.”