Telefónica places people at the center of a fair, inclusive, sustainable and humanistic digitization while still committed to complying with the action plan announced a year ago
There are companies with a single purpose and others that go much further. It is about those organizations whose social mission emerges in the most difficult moments. This value, innate in Telefónica, has been especially valuable in recent months, when the population suffered the first ravages of Covid-19. “This crisis has brought out the best in Telefónica. Our mission has never made more sense: to make a more humane world by connecting people's lives. And that's what we do, ”says José María Álvarez-Pallete, president of the telecommunications company.
During the confinement, Spain was the only country without connectivity problems, registering peaks of up to 45% in fixed broadband, 25% in mobile broadband and 70% in voice
Based on its mission, Telefónica's role was crucial for life to continue its course since last March. The digital world came out to back up the analog when it had to stop during confinement . Ensuring telecommunications and connectivity was a priority for the company, an aspect that was key for health services, to continue with remote employment and education, so that the population could escape with leisure and entertainment content and for families and friends stay connected.
No connectivity problems despite Covid-19
“Keeping communications up and running was our first response during this emergency, but not the only one. Our priority once again has been people, their health and safety . In general, we have striven to be useful to the whole of society and we have deployed extraordinary connectivity where it was necessary, ”says Álvarez-Pallete. In fact, in Spain there were peaks of up to 45% in fixed broadband and up to 25% in mobile broadband, as well as 70% in voice. " Spain has been the only country that has not had connectivity problems thanks to the strength of the networks, " he highlights.
But if something is clear for the company, it is that what happened in recent months shows that what passes through the networks are not zeros or ones or simply data, but the very lives of people. Hence, Telefónica's mission benefits society as a whole.
A roadmap to lead the digital transition
In addition, the company's objectives were reinforced in the action plan announced in November 2019 to build the New Telefónica . A plan anchored in five pillars whose execution in the last year is allowing it to fulfill its mission, comply with society in the difficult circumstances of recent months and comply with the strategy that will lead it to the future and that already reinforces its digital leadership in the main markets in which it operates.
"Our mission has never made so much sense: to make a more human world by connecting people's lives"
JOSÉ MARÍA ÁLVAREZ-PALLETE President of Telefónica
Following in the wake of this action plan, and within the new and challenging context caused by the pandemic, the company presented a Digital Pact in July to better rebuild our societies . For Telefónica, this digital pact is a necessary roadmap to manage the digital transition by placing people at the center, applying ethical principles and humanistic values. It has five main lines of action: promoting digitization for a more sustainable society and economy , addressing inequalities by investing in digital skills, building inclusive and sustainable connectivity , ensuring fair competition. through the modernization of tax, regulatory and competition frameworks; and improve trust through the ethical and responsible use of technology .
Let no one be left behind
The company's mission refers directly to people because it is people who give meaning to technology . That is why Telefónica advocates a fair, inclusive and sustainable digitization in which no one is left behind. This is evidenced by his goal of having 100% of Spain covered by 2025 and reaching 75% of the population with 5G this year . As it has shown during the pandemic, the digitization of small and medium-sized companies, fostering innovation and ending the digital divide, which also impacts education, is crucial for the company.
The technological revolution also happens through the environment. For this reason, Telefónica's commitment to sustainability has been reinforced with the advance to 2025 of its goal of zero net emissions . Digitization is not only a lever for social progress, it is also essential to decarbonize the economy. According to data from the World Economic Forum, digital technologies can help reduce global emissions by 15 to 35% in the next ten years. The green transition is more than necessary.
Improve well-being and generate wealth
"At Telefónica we believe that the possibilities that this revolution opens up are enormous and we must take advantage of its potential to improve people's quality of life and well-being and generate wealth," highlights Álvarez-Pallete, for whom we must anticipate and lead, not adapt to what will come. “Everything is new and nothing is defined, which is generating uncertainties. We need new rules, based on values, that we will have to write ”, remarks the president of Telefónica.
The past gives grounds for optimism. A little over a decade ago, Spain lagged behind in the deployment of fiber to the home. Today it has more fiber networks than Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom combined and is the third country in the OECD, after Japan and South Korea, with more kilometers of fiber deployed to homes. An infrastructure that has proven its strength when the population needed it most and that has shown that the connections are, above all, human.