– Angel Barrio , CEO
TELEFÓNICA USA
F or over a quarter of a century Telefónica has forged for itself a presence in the global telecommunications market , and has become one of the largest telephone operators and mobile network providers in the world by pursuing a single minded policy of expansion and growth . From being limited to the Spanish market , which it has dominated ever since it was founded in 1924 , it now has a presence in 21 countries including China , but with a particular focus on Europe and the Americas . The company , however , is not content in being one of a number of players in these markets . By strategically acquiring where it needs to do so , Telefónica has made sure that it is either the market leader or the close challenger . For example , in Brazil the leading landline and mobile telecoms operator is Telefónica ’ s Vivo , followed by GVT that was acquired by the group in 2015 .
That said , the company that Angel Barrio , CEO , runs is definitely an exception to the rule . Unlike the Latin American companies , Telefónica owns no fixed or mobile
We run one of the biggest unified communications projects in the world
– Angel Barrio , CEO
networks in the USA and has no plans to compete in that space . “ The operation we have in Telefónica USA is quite different from the operations we run elsewhere in the world ,” says Barrio . “ The only assets we control here are our data center in Florida , and international assets , in the sense of supplying cables to connect our clients in the US to the rest of the world , particularly Latin America .”
A tripartite sales operation This definitely does not mean that the USA company is behind its sisters . On the contrary , its
128 March 2017