Telefónica Digital to close its doors as part of restructuring process
Telefónica, the parent company of UK mobile operator O2, has announced the closure of Telefónica Digital as part of a restructuring process which aims to simplify the business.
Created in 2011, Telefónica Digital was tasked with developing mobile and digital marketing, tasks which will now be incorporated into the Global Corporate Centre, Telefónica’s central operations unit.
Following the closure Telefónica Digital president Matthew Key will be redeployed to Telefónica UK (O2), working alongside CEO Ronan Dunne. Duties carried out by the UK-based business will now be handled from Madrid leaving it unclear if any jobs will be lost in the process.
Telefónica president César Alierta said the new organisational structure would support “the volume of mobile data traffic we are going to see over the next five years, which is expected to multiply by 11 with respect to 2013”.
The changes see Telefónica create the role of chief commercial digital officer, who will be responsible for fostering revenue growth, and strengthen the role of chief global resources officer in order to capture gross savings of up to €1.5bn in the next few years.
Telefónica Europe and Telefónica Latam activities have also been absorbed by the new model, their leaders Eva Castillo and Santiago Fernández Valbuena will remain linked to Telefónica with Castillo remaining on the board of directors of Telefónica S.A. and the presidency of the supervisory board for Telefónica Germany.
Fernández Valbuena also remains on the Telefónica S.A. board and takes on the role of chief strategy officer.