Spain’s Telefonica

Telefonica is a Spanish broadband and telecommunication provider in Europe and Latin America. They are one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world in terms of market capitalization and number of customers. The company was founded on April 19, 1924 and headquarter is located in Madrid, Spain. They are one of the world’s leader integrated operator in the telecommunication sector. Operating globally, it is the third largest service provider in the world, behind China mobile and Vodafone. The products of the company included fixed line and mobile telephony, internet service and digital television. Telefonica was slower to expand in Europe because there had been an implied agreement between the national telecommunications companies that they would not invade each other’s markets. By 2005, this agreement broke down when France Telecom entered Spain. Telefonica is a publicly owned company. It is estimated that a large part of its stock is owned by capital investment funds. They are considered an example of a company where a dramatic increase in the level of entrepreneurship could be observed after privatization.

Privatization is the transfer of ownership of property or business from a government to a privately owned entity. The telecommunication industry proved to be of interest as the use of corporate venturing practices. The high level of competition and the incessant request for new products and services forced companies to be innovation seekers. The changes that were involved in the political and economic environment, allowed Telefonica to start expanding globally. In 2010, Telefonica, driven by the acquisition of the Brazilian operator, Vivo, increased the scale of its operations, once again obtaining solid results, and fulfilling the commitments make in the market. The firm provided fixed and mobile telecommunications and IT services to large multinational corporations through its Telefonica Multination’s Solutions unit. Industry changes brought many opportunities to the company including a broadband explosion, digitalization of content.