Liberty Global outsources Horizon to Infosys
August 15, 2023
Liberty Global and Infosys have expanded their collaboration to evolve and scale Liberty Global’s digital entertainment and connectivity platforms.
Building on their existing multi-year collaboration which has supported Liberty Global’s technology services platforms since February 2020, the companies will significantly expand the programme, with Infosys taking over build and operations of Liberty Global’s Horizon entertainment and connectivity platforms. By bringing the scale and breadth of Infosys, including technologies such as Infosys Topaz AI offering, the companies say the expanded collaboration “ensures continued operational excellence, a highly scalable development engine for new features and capabilities, and efficiencies for Liberty Global”.
The parties have entered into an initial five-year agreement, with an option to extend to eight years and beyond. Infosys will provide services to Liberty Global estimated at €1.5 billion over the initial five-year term and at €2.3 billion if the contract is extended to eight years. The collaboration allows Liberty Global to realise run-rate savings in excess of €100 million per annum, inclusive of other savings and technology investments.
In addition, Liberty Global is licensing these platforms to Infosys so the digital services provider can offer services to new operators and new markets outside the Liberty Global family. This will potentially enable millions of new customers to experience next-generation digital entertainment and connectivity services through Horizon for the first time. Liberty Global will continue to control product roadmaps and retain all intellectual property for the Horizon entertainment and connectivity platforms.
The expanded collaboration will additionally create career opportunities for more than 400 Liberty Global employees joining Infosys. Under the terms of the business arrangements, senior executives and technology teams from Liberty Global’s Product, Technology Development Service Delivery Group, Network & Shared Operations and Security Groups will transition to Infosys.
Mike Fries, CEO, Liberty Global, commented: “Strengthening and expanding our collaboration with Infosys gives our best-in-class solutions new scale with the ability to reach many more markets and bring positive experiences to more customers. And while it produces substantial central cost savings over time, it also provides excellent opportunities for our talent to grow their specialist skills and nurture impactful careers with Infosys. We look forward to working together to accelerate innovation and make our entertainment solutions even more powerful and engaging as new generations of digital-first customers continue to demand more from us all.”
Salil Parekh, CEO & MD, Infosys, said: “We are excited to bring Infosys Topaz to enable transformative AI-first capabilities to complement the cloud-first digital foundation we have laid for Liberty Global using Infosys Cobalt. This will unveil a new chapter in our joint journey of innovation as we reimagine entertainment and the connectivity experience for millions of global consumers. The strength of our global operations will also help the business scale across markets. As we prepare to welcome new talent and teams of innovators to Infosys, we look forward to building on the trust that Liberty Global has in us.”
Enrique Rodriguez, CTO, Liberty Global, said: “Our collaboration with Infosys started a few years ago, and since then we’ve made great progress in jointly establishing our best-in-class entertainment and connectivity platforms. This expansion of our relationship is the right next step to further strengthen the performance of our digital-first entertainment and connectivity solutions, scale their reach and impact, even as we chart the next round of innovations that we will drive together.”
Anand Swaminathan, Executive Vice President – Global Head of Communications, Media & Technology, Infosys, added: “Infosys’ collaboration with Liberty Global will deliver state-of-the-art, AI-powered entertainment solutions-as-a-service that will bring great flexibility to 10 million Liberty Global customers. We will also offer these platforms as a powerful choice to other telecom clients. We are excited to welcome Liberty Global’s specialist talent to Infosys to deliver on this ambitious programme.”