Telefonica To Bring iPhone In Latin America And The Czech Republic

The Spanish company Telefonica has announced it will distribute the iPhone to 16 countries in Latin America and the Czech Republic after striking a deal with Apple. These new countries are: The Czech Republic, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

“We are happy to announce that we will be offering iPhone to our customers. Customers will benefit from the full potential of the high-tech phone as we are the only operator with a fast 3G network,"- Salvador Anglada, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer Telefónica O2 Czech Republic.

“The 16 countries where we will distribute the iPhone have a market potential of 500 million people, making us one of the global leaders in the distribution of these revolutionary handsets,” Telefonica’s Chairman Cesar Alierta said.

Telefónica is one of the leading a private company in the global telecommunications market, with headquarters in Spain; it is listed on the main international stock exchanges. With a presence in 23 countries, Telefónica's revenue represents an average of 1.5% of the GDP of the economies of the countries where it operates. Over 63% of its earnings (more than 52.9 billion euros in 2007) come from outside Spain. In 2006, the company offered a return of 31.2% to its 1.7 million shareholders.

Telefónica employs over 233,000 persons and provides access to more than 218 customers: 160 million mobile phones accesses. 42 million landline telephones accesses. 9.6 million broadband accesses. 1.4 million pay-per-view accesses. In 2006, the operator invested over 4.3 billion euros in R+D+i.