Infosys signs five-year contract with Belgian teleco Telenet

Bengaluru-headquartered information technology (IT) services firm Infosys has been signed on by Belgian telecommunications provider Telenet as its preferred IT partner for the next five years.

The latest engagement is a continuation of 19-year relationship that the IT services firm has had with the telco during the course of which it has helped set up and manage the company’s legacy IT infrastructure.

Under the latest five-year engagement, Infosys will deliver several digital and data solutions to help Telenet in its plan to drive simplification of its existing infrastructure through digital transformation. The company will also utilize Infosys’ solutions to extract relevant insights from its generated data and help streamline its existing IT processes, the company said in a statement.

Telenet, founded in 1996, is Belgium’s largest provider of cable broadband services. It primarily provides analog and digital cable television services, along with mobile telephone services to residential customers in the country.

“Infosys is excited to support Telenet in its journey of transforming into a digital enterprise. For nearly two decades, our partnership has helped Telenet become more agile and responsive to their customers,” Anand Swaminathan, executive vice president, global head of communications, media and technology at Infosys, said.

Infosys will drive two key initiatives as part of the programme. First, it will provide an end-to-end digital and data transformation journey to help the company get leaner and more efficient. Second, Infosys will bring in more agile methodologies of working to drive Telenet’s digital-first strategy.  

The plan to incorporate an agile methodology of working within Telenet had some repercussions within the company, with the local Belgian media reporting that two higher ranking executives had put in their papers citing that their ambitions were not reflected as Telenet planned to move from a classical hierarchical model to a more flexible ‘agile’ organization.

However Infosys stated that the new agile methodology would help the teleco deliver higher quality products to market faster and help build a future-ready workforce, equipped with relevant digital skills. “This digital transformation project will provide Telenet’s employees access to relevant insights and help them attract and retain customers by delivering fresh digital experiences,” it said. 

Dutch multinational Liberty Global, which is the world's largest international television and broadband provider, owns a 57.3% stake in Telenet Group. Telenet has more than 3000 employees based out of Belgium.