Telefonica the Hispanic Worldcom Tef , like most of Europe's large, domestic telephony concerns, was once owned by the Spanish government. But since
the start of privatization a decade ago, Telefonica has shown amazing deftness in its evolution from a staid, provincial,
monopolistic bureaucracy to a nimble, aggressive, forward-looking and globally opportunistic telecom.
One of the most visible and profoundly important examples of this has been Telefonica's investment in Latin America. Starting
with a minority purchase of Compania de Telecomunicaciones de Chile (NYSE:CTC - news) in 1990, Telefonica has built an
empire of Latin American telecommunication assets that makes it the largest telecommunication provider to the Spanish and
Portuguese speaking world. Collectively, it claims 39 million fixed lines, 17 million cellular subscribers,6th largest cellular provider worldwide, invested in superior cdma system in S/America and nearly 1 million
Internet subscribers.
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