Digital display
Spanish telco giant Telefónica has announced a general structural overhaul that will see it move some of its operations, and staff, to the UK.
The key development is the creation of a new business unit - Telefónica Digital - which will be headquartered in London, with regional offices in Madrid, Sao Paulo and Silicon Valley.
The purpose of this new unit, which will initially be comprised of 2,500 people, is to ensure Telefónica capitalises on opportunities created by the mobile device revolution, such as entertainment, e-advertising, e-health, financial services, cloud and M2M (machine-to-machine). It will look at both consumer and corporate opportunities.
Telefónica has been arguably the most pro-active among the major European telcos in exploiting opportunities created by the mobile Internet. One example is the recent voucher platform launched on its O2 More location-based service recently. This new unit makes such activities a core strategic priority for Telefónica, which seems wise.
Apart from Telefónica Digital, the other major corporate moves involve incorporating Spain into the rest of Europe in its organisational structure. This both resolves a legacy of the 2005 acquisition of O2 and reduces Telefónica's exposure to the shaky macroeconomic environment in Spain. There's also the creation of a Global Resources unit, designed to better exploit economies of scale.
