Telefónica S.A. is the national telephone network operator (telco) in Spain.

Telefónica is the largest corporation in Spain and has a large presence in Latin America. It owns Telefónica de España, the largest fixed phone and ADSL operator in Spain, Telefónica Moviles (under the movistar brand name), the largest mobile phone operator in Spain, Terra Networks, S.A., an Internet subsidiary, Telefónica Publicidad e Información, S.A. (TPI), the publisher of the Spanish Yellow Pages edition, etc. Telefónica operates movistar, the second-largest mobile phone operator in Mexico, and is currently engaged in a strong price war against number one operator Telcel. Telefónica also operates wireless phone services in many Latin American countries, under the movistar brand name, and owns 50% of Brazilian wireless operator Vivo. In 2005, Telefonica bought Český Telecom , Czech phone operator (with de-facto monopoly on land lines).

Privatization

It was the only operator in Spain, being a monopoly, until 1997, when the government retired his total control over the corporation and Telefonica became a private company. Since then, the company has fought against the new operators in the country.

Ownership

• JPMorgan Chase: 7%
• Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (BBVA): 6.09%
• Caja de Ahorros y Pensiones de Barcelona ("la Caixa" ): 5.38%

External links

• Official company website

Data

• Yahoo! - Telefónica, SA Company Profile