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An interesting list from a Telecom Expert and Consultant ...

I was recently asked why I called Telefónica "A National Disgrace"

My response was:

Hi, 30 years in telecom and I have dealt with almost all the Western European (ex-)monopolies and many of the new contenders.

My BIGGEST complaints against Telefónica
 
1) Telefónica abused their monopoly position to keep prices artificially high. Even when they were fined (heavily) by Brussels they refused to deregulate. When the got fined again and were threatened with the full force of EU law, they allowed one competitor and, in effect, created a duopoly.

Who was the competitor? Retevision. Who owned Retevision? You guessed, Telefónica. (Board members all ex Telefónica executives) Who had the higher prices? Yes, you guessed, Retevision!When EU found out about this they fined Telefónica AGAIN and made it abundantly clear that licensed operators MUST be allowed to enter a fully deregulated market.
 
I was involved in all of this 1998/2001. DT were difficult but efficient, Telecom Italia did not seem to care. "One less client for us, one less piece of hassle." (We took 1,7 million clients from Telecom Italia to Infostrada in 2 years) BT had their moments but normally at least played clean.
 
2) Once you had been through THEIR approval process (as well as the Telecom Control Council´s) they then made it almost impossible to deal with them as a tier one licensed reseller. Uni2 were made to jump through hoops and then again to deal with even the most simple process that were fully automated elsewhere. The effect was that customers to the new carriers were getting a 2nd class service as the carrier was not able to provision, bill or give a quality customer service!
 
3) Some 12 years later they have some of the very highest wholesale prices in Europe (in fact Western World) and thus keep carrier costs high, The result? Some of the highest retail CPM charges in Europe. Figures can be made to prove anything (ask Telefónica) but whether you measure the call charge as a percentage of average income, against the retail price index or the number of grains of sand on the beach Spain is ALWAYS at/near the top of telecom charges.

4) Technically (ironically!) they are very competent and have a good reputation throughout Europe. The obscenity is that some of this technology is deliberately held back. Their TRAC service is an insult to a post-industrialised society and their constant prevarication and procrastination another insult to their clients. Movistar is one of the most advanced networks in Europe but again Telefónica, as owners, seem more intent on profit than popularity.

5) Their marketing is based on ¨confusion marketing¨ techniques when a huge percentage of their customers have no idea what they are paying for.  I have unlimited examples of customers being charged for dial-up accounts AND 24/7 ADSL accounts on the same line.

Their claw-back techniques are at best dubious and at worst illegal (So they get fined, again!)
 
It´s no wonder that they have one of the highest retention rates of all the ex-monopolies. Nobody knows how to leave them and when they try the Telefónica juggernaut kicks in. The customer service which before was "poor" to be will now do most anything to keep the client and/or make it nigh on impossible to leave. "Yes, you can leave us today but you have a Friends and Family option that has x months to run on it ....and you will still be liable for payment."
 
6) In short, the entire culture of Telefónica compared with, say, Telia or Telenor disgusts me.

 Why is there this culture? How many ex-presidents of BT have ended in jail in the last 20 years? NIL. How many of the last 4 presidents of Telefónica have? (The jury is out on the incumbent!)
 
I would LOVE to have the success in Spain that we have had in Scandinavia, UK, France and Italy but with Telefónica making it so difficult you can see why I (and so many other operators) concentrate elsewhere. I "thought" we had a real chance last year but sadly the whole experience left me a bad taste in the mouth.

I am always talking to potential operators but even the might of Tele2 (12 million customers in Sweden, with a population of just 9 million) have not broken the monolith that is Telefónica. Yes, we will be announcing something soon but I don´t expect to have a client base of 130% of the population within 10 years! Sad.

Story by Steve Hall
Follow me/ follow you: www.twitter.com/thisisspain

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