Infosys, Liberty Global sign $1.6-bn deal to scale digital entertainment, connectivity

Infosys on Tuesday said that it has bagged a €1.5 billion ($1.64 billion) deal from Liberty Global to build and scale the entertainment and connectivity platforms of the digital communications firm. The agreement has an initial tenure of five years which can be extended to eight years, which would take the deal value to €2.3 billion ($2.5 billion), the company said.

This is third big agreement, which Infosys has clinched this year and comes at a time when the company has cut its revenue guidance for the current fiscal amidst tough macro economic conditions. The development also highlights the growing focus of IT firms on the telecom business.

The deal follows HCLTech’s $2.1-billion contract from Verizon last week. In fact, HCLTech also announced on Tuesday that it has been selected by Cricket Australia (CA), the national governing body for the game in Australia, for the next phase of CA’s digital transformation. Analysts say that even this deal will fall in the telecommunications, media, publishing and entertainment vertical of HCLTech.

The collaboration with Infosys allows Liberty Global to realise run-rate savings in excess of €100 million ($109.32 million) per annum, inclusive of other savings and technology investments, according to the filings made by the IT firm. As part of this deal, more than 400 Liberty Global employees will transition to Infosys.

Salil Parekh, MD and CEO, 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.”

Three months back, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)-led consortium also received an order of $1.8 billion from BSNL, for the deployment of a 4G network across India. Last month, even L&T Technology Services announced that it has won a $50 million deal in the same vertical.

Telecom business vertical of Indian IT companies has of late been sending mixed signals, with one set of clients signing mega deals, while others ramping down projects and delaying decisions on spends.