Telefónica and Telefónica Europe
All the latest from across around the Telefónica Group in your regular round-up.
The HTC Smart aims to bring the smartphone experience to a wider audience.
It’s been a typically busy period for Telefónica. Here, we give you all the latest news in our regular round-up section.
Smart move for HTC exclusive
The HTC Smart handset will be available exclusively to O2 customers in Germany, Ireland and the UK, thanks to a new partnership with Telefónica.
The deal is the latest boost to Telefónica Europe’s mission to be the home of the smartphone. The HTC Smart offers excellent functionality in a stylish handset at an affordable price.
CEO Matthew Key said: “We believe this is a key move in our ability to bring smartphones to a far wider cross-section of the population, reinforcing our position as the home of the smartphone.”
Telefónica stars at Mobile World Congress
Telefónica had a high profile at the Mobile World Congress 2010.
The event is widely seen as the most important on the mobile industry calendar and is a showcase for companies to unveil new technology and developments.
The Telefónica stand focused on four basic themes – customer, mobile broadband growth, new business and sustainable business.
Details of some of the ground-breaking Telefónica announcements made at the event are included in this section.
Operators team up for applications growth
Telefónica has joined with 23 leading telecommunications operators to form an alliance aimed at building the world's first open platform for mobile phone applications.
Once developed, the platform should become a breeding ground for the creation of a broader choice of innovative applications and services, available over a wider choice of handsets.
Telefónica is teaming up with web knowledge company Wikimedia to develop content and applications across the globe.
Wikimedia deal widens scope of learning tools
Telefónica is working to bring the full Wikimedia experience to customers across Europe and Latin America.
It is teaming up with the Wikimedia Foundation to improve access to Wikimedia’s educational and informational content through the development of customised applications for Telefónica's web portals, wireless handsets and television properties.
One element of the partnership will see Telefónica develop co-branded services, offering customers quick and simple access to the information created by Wikimedia's network of 100,000 international volunteers.
Share plan delay gives time to spread message
Telefónica had delayed the launch of its Global Employee Share Plan, giving employees more time to find out about the plan and make an informed decision.
All employees around the globe will receive further details through a variety of channels over the coming months.
The plan gives employees the opportunity to purchase Telefónica shares via monthly salary deductions of up to €100 over the course of the 12-month purchase period.
Employees who hold the shares for a further 12 months after the end of the purchase period will receive one free share for each one they bought, subject to the limits of the plan.
The plan aims to help employees take a real share in Telefónica’s success.
The Telefónica stand at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress.
Future of mobile internet on show
Telefónica teamed up with Nokia Siemens Networks to showcase the latest in high-speed mobile broadband applications at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The two companies held a live demonstration of long-term evolution (LTE) technology to give visitors an insight into their ongoing work on LTE.
The demonstration saw Telefónica illustrate LTE’s capability to rapidly download high-resolution videos both at its congress booth and in a moving van on the streets of Barcelona.
Visitors could also experience the advantages of LTE by comparing download times and image quality of the same video across an existing HSPA network and seeing LTE-powered video conferencing in action.
Celesio deal done
Telefónica has won a major contract to provide voice and data services to global pharmaceutical services company Celesio.
The four-year contract covers 14 European countries and will see 10,000 employees equipped with mobile devises and data cards.
The deal covers Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and the Czech Republic.
© Telefónica Europe 2010