BUSINESS

Telefonica Mobiles plans India foray

By Rajendra Palande in Mumbai
November 30, 2005 13:31 IST
Spain's Telefonica Mobiles is exploring investment opportunities in India, after acquiring UK's mobile telephony operator O2 for £18 billion in cash.

Telefonica is the world's second-largest mobile multinational with over 89 million subscribers across 15 countries in three continents and the third largest European fixed line operator with 43.7 million customers.

Telefonica's chief financial officer, Ernesto Lopez Mozo, is coming to India on Saturday to initiate exploratory process.

Mozo is scheduled to meet the top brass at Reliance Infocomm, a company which like Telefonica is banking on data becoming a revenue generator in future, a source said.

He has also lined up meetings with Reliance Industries Ltd for telecommunication opportunities in the proposed Mahamumbai special economic zone being set up by the Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance group across the harbour in New Mumbai.

Mozo will also scout for opportunities for Telefonica's information technology services and solutions business. For this, he will hold talks with Mahindra Consulting, the source said.

Instanex Capital Consultants, a Mumbai-based investment bank, has organised Mozo's visit, amid growing interest among European telecommunications services providers in Indian telecom market.

Telefonica Mobiles is the leading cellular company in the Spanish-and Portuguese-speaking markets.

The company has operations Spain, Morocco, Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.

Mobiles has a unique presence in all the key markets of Latin America and holds the number one or two position in almost all the countries in which it operates.

Its activities are centered mainly on the fixed and mobile telephony businesses, having broadband as the key tool for the development of both of these.

Telefonica is the sixth largest operator in the world in terms of market capitalisation and 55 per cent of its customers come from the Latin American region.

Rajendra Palande in Mumbai
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