The AT&T decision to offload its Network Cloud technology to Microsoft late last month caused enough of a ripple that its executive team attempted to clarify the depth of that move as part of the carrier’s latest earnings call. And when it came to actual topic of its earnings, well, they were decent and expected to get better.

As part of the telecom giant’s move to shift its Network Cloud technology to Microsoft, AT&T also moved its 5G network core, workloads, and services to Microsoft’s Azure for Operators platform. The move was basically AT&T realizing that no matter how invested and talented it had become in cloud computing, it was no match for the might of hyperscalers.

However, despite moving those functions to run on Azure, AT&T Communications CEO Jeff McElfresh clarified this week to investors that the carrier was “not outsourcing our core network functions,” according to a Seeking Alpha transcript of the earnings call.

“We’re relying on Microsoft to develop a scaled compute and storage capabilities at the edge while we retain control of our network stack and the kinds of services and products that we’re going to offer to the market,” McElfresh said.

That clarification is significant for AT&T as it continues to re-focus its efforts around its 5G and telecom core. It also signaled a diminishing focus on what had been an internal multi-year journey to virtualize much of its network operations.

“Our focus here is to put our energy on the things that differentiate our service,” McElfresh added. “And by doing this, it enables us to reallocate resources that were once attempting to build scaled network cloud compute capabilities. We rely on Microsoft for that and the Azure for Operator's capability going forward. And then our product development teams and our engineers really work on the service layer and the kinds of products and services that we intend to provide with our fiber and our 5G network to consumers and to our enterprise customers.”

Details remain light on specific services and the financial implications of the move.

Specific to its finances, AT&T reported a 7.6% increase in companywide revenues for the second quarter of 2021, which grew from $41 billion last year to $44 billion this year. However, increased costs hit its bottom line as net income dipped from $3.5 billion last year to $3.3 billion this year.

Looking ahead, AT&T CFO Pascal Desroches said that the carrier witnessed the largest financial impact from the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year, and that “we’re seeing our business emerge stronger than before, with growth accelerating in our market-focused areas.” That momentum led AT&T to increase its full-year revenue growth from the previous 1% to now as much as 3%, but it maintained its $17 billion forecast for full-year capex guidance.