Vodafone Group, plc, a worldwide provider of mobile telecommunications, brings IBM’s Smarter Cities initiative to Spain’s smaller cities. The company realized it needed to think strategically to convince city leaders of the technology’s value.

“Vodafone realized that buying infrastructure for each of the cities is very expensive, and most of the smaller towns can’t afford it,” Alicia Mancheno, Vodafone Corporate Product & Solutions senior manager told theCUBE during IBM Edge2015. “We found a way of offering Smarter Cities services as a Cloud model — they pay as they use it — and then we partnered with IBM and to propose a standard model for cities with 20,000 to 200,000 inhabitants.”

Leveraging the data a must

Vodafone convinced town halls of the importance of smarter cities by arguing for efficiency — saving on electricity and labor costs — and for “making life easier for the citizens and creating more livable cities,” said Mancheno.

Vodafone Alliances Director Juan J. de Santiago, who also joined theCUBE, said that the Smarter Cities initiative aligns with the company’s core business because “communications is a must. If we’re talking about gathering information, we need to leverage that data.”

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of IBM Edge2015.