Telefonica is finalising plans to officially launch its Aura cognitive intelligence platform in an initial six countries at the start of 2018, reports Spanish business daily Cinco Dias, citing Aura director Irene Gomez. The so-called 'fourth platform' was unveiled at Mobile World Congress earlier this year, with Telefonica expressing the hope that it will form the basis for a new relationship model with costumers, allowing them to manage their digital experiences with the company and control the data generated. The six launch markets will be Spain, Germany, the UK, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, said Gomez, adding that the aim is to gradually expand the platform with new features and evolve it according to the needs of each country.
Aura was created with Microsoft's artificial-intelligence expertise and designed to work as a mobile app and interact with Amazon Echo and Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented reality glasses. It can be used for basic customer service inquiries, creating and tracking a request, managing access to Wi-Fi routers, getting information about shows and programming recordings, or receiving alerts when data consumption is greater than usual.
Gomez also confirmed that Aura will be provided free of charge to all customers. "It is something designed to improve the user’s relationship with us… charging the customer is unthinkable,” she said.
