- published: 10 Jun 2009
- views: 364685
Telefónica, S.A. (Spanish pronunciation: [teleˈfonika]) is a Spanish broadband and telecommunications provider in Europe, the United States and Latin America. Operating globally, it is the sixth largest mobile network provider in the world. The company is the former public monopoly of telecommunications in Spain. Its head office is in the Distrito Telefónica in Madrid.
Telefónica is a supporter of the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) initiative (a consortium of broadcasting and Internet industry companies including SES, OpenTV and Institut für Rundfunktechnik) that is promoting and establishing an open European standard for hybrid set-top boxes for the reception of broadcast TV and broadband multimedia applications with a single user interface, and has run pilot HbbTV services in Spain.
Created in 1924, as Compañía Telefónica Nacional de España (CTNE), until the liberalisation of the telecom market in 1997, Telefónica was the only telephone operator in Spain and still holds a dominant position (over 75% in 2004). Since 1997, the Spanish government has privatised its interest in the company.