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| Company | Telefónica |
| Headquarters | Distrito Telefónica, Ronda de la Comunicación, s/n, 28050 Madrid, Spain |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Type | Sociedad Anónima |
| Founded | 19 April 1924 |
| NYSE stock symbol | TEF (BMAD: TEF, LSE: TDE, BVL: TEF, BCBA: TEF) |
| Website | http://www.telefonica.com |
Telefónica is a multinational telecommunications provider, based in Madrid, Spain. The company has a presence in Europe, Asia, North America and Latin America.
It is considered to be one of the largest mobile network providers in the world and is the second-largest corporation in Spain after Grupo Santander.
Telefónica operates in 44 countries and serves around 325 million customers. It has 19 full network operations, 20 commercial & operational offices, 5 remote operations, and 129 countries extended MPLS.
Telefónica was originally formed in 1924 under the name Compañía Telefónica Nacional de España (CTNE). The company was originally owned completely by the Spanish government.
It wasn’t until 1997 that the company was privatized. It is now a completely publicly listed company with over 1.5 million direct shareholders, with ordinary shares traded on the Spanish Stock Market, as well as in London and New York.
In Europe the company has a major presence as a parent company for many European major mobile communication providers. In 2006 Telefónica acquired the British operator O2 in a deal worth €25.7 billion. It also owns 46% of Telco, which is a major Italian telephone company.
It also operates one of Latin America’s largest mobile phone operators, called Movistar, and has a strategic market presence in Brazil, Venezuela, Chile, and Mexico. Its VIVO commercial brand is used for mobile, landline and broadband services to consumer and business customers in Brazil. In Argentina Telefónica owns the largest fixed-line operator in the country, Telefónica de Argentina.
In the US the company operates Telefonica USA, Inc., which provides services to multinational companies that operate in Latin America and Europe.
Its Multinational Solutions unit has customers such as BMW, BBVA, Endesa, FCC, Scottish Power, DPDHL, and Inditex.
The company has been heavily involved in sponsoring, it recently sponsored the cycling team previously known as Caisse d’Epargne, under the name Team Movistar. It also sponsors the Spanish football teams Real Zaragoza and Valencia CF.
Telefónica has been subject to several convictions because of unfair competition, claiming that it has abused its power as a dominant provider, in addition to antitrust violations through the Commission of Telecommunications, European Commission, and Spanish tribunals. Fines include: €900,000 by Spanish tribunals, €18 million by the Spanish Telecommunication Market commission, and €151.9 million by the European Commission.
Subsidiaries:
Telefónica de España, Telefónica Europe, Telefónica Móviles, Telefônica Vivo, Terra Networks