Azure France has achieved GSMA accreditation

This week we added an important compliance offering for telecommunications in France, the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) Security Accreditation Scheme for Subscription Management (SAS-SM). [Azure solutions for telecommunications](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/industry/telecommunications) let customers use AI and automation to increase telecommunication network efficiency, scalability, and reliability, and capitalize on new service opportunities enabled by 5G. Azure is set to play a key role in helping telecommunications providers build 5G networks with [the preview of Azure Edge Zones](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/microsoft-partners-with-the-industry-to-unlock-new-5g-scenarios-with-azure-edge-zones/) with carriers, connecting Azure services directly to 5G networks in the carrier’s datacenter. The accreditation by the GSMA of Azure France with more than 100 Azure services as an SAS-SM Accredited site is the first for any hyperscale cloud provider. The independent standalone accreditation enables any telecom operators to use Azure to support a massive global increase in the volume of embedded mobile subscriptions with the right level of security assurance, which will be critical to the implementation of 5G networks and the cellular network connectivity of billions of IoT devices worldwide. The GSMA SAS-SM certification is available to Microsoft enterprise cloud customers [here](https://aka.ms/GSMA-Report). The GSMA’s established Security Accreditation Scheme (SAS) is the required security accreditation for eSIM (embedded SIM) entities handling sensitive assets. These include Mobile Network Operator (MNO) profile information and digital certificates. SAS-SM audits the robustness of processes for secure data management at the Subscription Management service location. [Azure France](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/global-infrastructure/france/) includes France Central region based in Paris, and France South region in Marseille. France Central now offers three availability zones for increased availability, resiliency, and business continuity. The Paris region is one of the first Azure regions to benefit from the implementation of availability zones and 99.99 percent availability of service. Learn more about [Azure compliance](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/overview/trusted-cloud/compliance/). * Compliance