Spanish giant Telefonica expands into Bulgaria

Spanish telephone giant Telefonica has inaugurated new offices in 15 countries in a massive expansion scheme which also includes Bulgaria. The company has also opened a new portal, www.multinationalsolutions.telefonica.com,  designed to serve multinational companies, a Telefonica press statement has announced, quoted by Dnevnik daily.

The new offices spawning all over Europe are only a part of the company's expansion strategy. The purpose of the new facilities is to "improve the integrated telecommunication services provided by the operator", the press statement announced.

"Telefonica's capacity on a global scale allows it to provide its services efficiently, and quickly, both to fixed and mobile networks simultaneously," said Telefonica CEO Matthew Key in a statement.

Apart from Bulgaria, Telefonica has also stepped into France, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia, Poland, Hungary, Switzerland, Austria, and Romania.
 
Meanwhile, the company and China Unicom Ltd., one of China's three main state-owned carriers, announced that  they would expand their strategic alliance and buy one billion US dollars worth of each other's shares.

The companies said they will co-operate in development of technology for mobile phones, providing services to multinational customers and other areas under the agreement signed on September 13. They also plan to exchange managers, the companies said.

"We are fully committed to the alliance and will exploit the synergies offered by this far-reaching co-operation to benefit our shareholders and customers alike," Telefonica chairman Cesar Alierta said in a statement, quoted by the GMA News TV.

"We are looking forward to enhancing the partnership and achieving a win-win situation for both parties," Unicom chairman Chang Xiaobing said in the statement.

Telefonica's stake in Unicom would escalate to eight per cent, while Unicom will become a Telefonica shareholder for the first time with a stake of approximately 0.88 per cent.

     Source: sofiaecho.com