The Silicon Review ^Asia

UK's Vodafone Group and Japanese trading house Sumitomo Corp will collaborate on international technology infrastructure and digital services projects, the companies said on Thursday. Vodafone, Europe's largest mobile and fixed network operator, said the partnership would create growth opportunities by developing next-generation communication infrastructure and secure digital services. The digital services will get a fine touch of innovation.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) has announced that this deal will mainly focus on improving 5G networks. This is besides a capital infusion of $600 million has been made, and the infusion doubles SMBC's capital commitment to its operations (to $1.2 billion). Vodafone and Sumitomo will also focus on developing many fiber net connections in Asia by the end of 2024.

Sumitomo has also stated that this collaboration will bring a new wave in the telecom sector, as Vodafone performs well in the Asia-pacific region. This will improve the networking and broadband services in Asian countries like India and Japan. Vodafone, also in a recent announcement, has stated that this deal will improve the mutual relationship between two different continents without providing further details on the alliance.