Careers at Telefonica
Mission
Telefonica’s mission is to facilitate enjoyment of digital connections, safeguarding the use of consumer information, and giving consumers control over their digital life.
Business segments
Telefonica provides telecommunication services for mobile, landline, Internet and television connections to over 300 million customers all across Europe and Latin America. Its business is segmented by location, with each geographical region being served by a different subsidiary and brand.
- Telefonica is the group’s institutional brand that is known globally. It provides telecommunication services to mainly institutional and other corporate clients. It also handles Fundación Telefónica, the group’s CSR arm.
- Movistar provides telecommunication services in Spain, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Guatemala, Panamá, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
- O2 provides telecommunication services in the UK and Germany.
- Vivo provides telecommunication services in Brazil.
Telefonica also owns several brands that specialize in information and communication technology related (“ICT”) businesses:
- Wayra is Telefonica’s start-up accelerator.
- Tuenti is a social network with a strong presence in Spain, which is diversifying its services into instant messaging.
- Media Networks provides wholesale Pay-TV and Satellite Internet services, content generation and ad sales to companies and operators in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Paraguay, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela, Central America and Peru.
- Telefónica has other virtual mobile brands in several countries, including giffgaff (UK), fonic (Germany), tuenti móvil (Spain) and quam (Argentina).
- Terra offers internet content and services in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking markets.
- They also have companies that offer specialised services, such as dynamic marketing (On the Spot) and security (ElevenPaths).
- Finally, there are companies that offer services to Telefónica employees and society as a whole such as Fonditel, Antares, Pléyade and tgestiona.
History
Telefonica started out in 1924 as Compañía Telefónica Nacional de España as result of the takeover of a Spanish telephone company by the International Telephone & Telegraph Corporation, with a major portion owned by private Spanish investors and being under the direction of the Spanish government.
The ownership structure remained this way until 1945, when the Spanish government, under Franco, nationalized the company. The government took over 41% of the company, with the rest going to private investors.
The government stake was reduced in 1995, when 12% was sold off on the open market. Telefonica was fully privatized in 1997 when the government sold off its remaining 20.9% interest in the company, in part of a privatization cum deregulation initiative.
It is currently a 100% listed company, listed on BMAD, NYSE, LSE, BVL, and BCBA. Its two major shareholders are Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (~3%) and CaixaBank (~5%).





Business model of Telefonica
Customer Segments
Telefonica has a mass market business model, with a multi-sided market. It mainly splits up its businesses by geography. Telefonica also maintains a different approach for its retail and corporate customers.
- Retail – Retail customers are segmented by regions, with each operational region being served by a different brand.
- Corporate – Large accounts are handled by the Telefonica brand, by its regional subsidiaries. Its corporate arm targets SMEs, Enterprises, and provides Wholesaling services.
- For SMEs, Telefonica provides consulting and technological services to optimize firm operations.
- For Enterprises, Telefonica provides communications consulting and infrastructure to improve both internal and external communications.
- For Wholesaling customers, Telefonica provides global telecommunication services for fixed and mobile operators, ISPs and content providers. It also develops an integrated and competitive portfolio for carriers including Voice, IP, Capacity, Satellite, Mobility, Security and Digital solutions, and Platforms.
Telefonica also owns a number of other brands that represents non-key ICT related businesses. These brands are generally segmented by region.
Value Proposition
To consumers, Telefonica or one of its brands is a well-established telecommunication service provider – reliability is its selling point here.
Further, given the entrenchment of Telefonica in the markets it operates in, its telecommunications, particularly mobile and internet, coverage is unparalleled with international presence in over 40 countries and service reach in over 170 countries – thus service is another selling point.
Its size allows Telefonica to defray R&D costs and take advantage of economies of scale – it is thus able to offer services at lower cost to both consumers and institutional clients.
Telefonica also invests heavily in research and development and start-up funding, allowing it to stay on the cutting edge of technology. It also actively cooperates with other telecommunication service providers, further expanding its reach and thus value proposition.
Channels
For retail consumers, Telefonica and its brands use a combination of direct physical retailers and resellers. It also takes advantage of new technologies and uses digital sales channels and social media to reach out to current and potential customers.
Telefonica and its brands generally deal directly with institutional clients.
Customer Relationships
Telefonica relies heavily on culture-driven aspects of its product, i.e. its age, branding, and reputation, in order to sell its services to both retail and institutional clients. It also provides on-demand multi-channel support for its retail services.
A selling point of its institutional businesses, particularly Telefonica Business Solutions, is its 24/7 international service.
Key Activities
Telefonica’s key activity is the provision of telecommunication services for mobile, landline, Internet and television connections. It also provides business solutions to institutional clients through Telefonica Business Solutions or one of its other subsidiaries.
Key Partners
Telefonica regularly partners with other telecommunication service providers to provide service reach to countries within which it does not have a presence – for example in Asian countries generally. It also purchases equity stakes in telecommunication service providers in these markets – one example is China Unicom.
It also enters into technology sharing partnership – one example is its alliance with KPN, NTT DOCOMO, INC., Rogers, SingTel, Telstra and Vimpelcom in 2012 to share technologies to enable a global, unique seamless solution for the provision of communications to multinational customers requiring M2M devices connectivity.
Key Resources
Telefonica’s key resources are its technology, its built up presence in its operating regions – particularly the infrastructure (PPE) and licences that it owns, and its goodwill.
Cost Structure
Telefonica’s key costs are Supplies, Personnel, and Other expenses (primarily external services, including leases, advertising, and expenses to run its CSR arm, and taxes). See Table below for details.
Revenue Streams
Telefonica’s key revenue streams are from fixed line and mobile service sales, and B2B activities through Telefonica Business Solutions. Its main revenue generators are Telefonica Spain (25.6%), Germany (9.7%), Brazil (24.2%), and Hispanoamerica (33.3%).
Source of Revenue/Cost | Revenue (FY 2015, million Euros) | % of Total Revenue |
Revenues | 47,219 | 100% |
Other Income | 1,841 | |
Supplies | (12,910) | 27.3% |
Personnel Expenses | (9,800) | 20.8% |
Other Expenses | (14,936) | 31.6% |
EBITDA | 11,414 | 24.2% |
Depreciation and Amortisation | (7,431) | 18.0% |
Net financial expense | (2,779) | 5.5% |
Profit Before Tax | 311 | 0.7% |
Profit For The Year* | 2,880 | 6.1% |
*mostly profit from discontinued operations.
Our team
info: José María holds a degree in Economics from the Complutense University of Madrid. He also studied Economics at the Free University of Brussels, and has an Advance Research Degree from the Complutense University of Madrid. Prior to joining Telefonica, he was a board member of Cemex (Company of Cementos Portland).
info: Ramiro was the General Secretary and Secretary of Elosúa, S.A., Tabacalera, S.A., Altadis, S.A. and Xfera Móviles, S.A. prior to joining Telefonica.
info: Ángel holds an Industrial Engineering degree from Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and an MBA from Columbia University. Prior to joining Telefónica, he held positions at Citigroup, McKinsey&Co, Ferrovial and Planeta.
info: María holds a BA in Economic and Business Sciences from the Universidad Complutense, Madrid (Colegio Universitario San Pablo CEU). She began her professional career in Telefonica in 1993.