How long have you been with Telefónica and what is your assessment of your time here?
In a couple of weeks it will be a year since I started at Telefónica. My story with this company started 2 years ago. When I initially started as an intern at an important supplier, which provided services to Telefónica. When I started, I remember the overwhelming feeling it was to understand the distribution and operation of a company as big as this one, with so many people, so much experience, and so many different facets.
Little by little that feeling disappeared when I started working in the district and I was able to better understand how everything worked from the inside.
I am now in the global department of CTIO, and it is not at all like what I had imagined at the beginning. The image I had of an office, and especially the relationships with colleagues has completely collapsed, because as my colleague Javier Martin said, it’s like a family, and it’s great to be able to count on some of your colleagues not only professionally, but also on a personal level. This has shown me a lot about the company I am in.
I am very happy to be where I am and I am proud to be part of something so big.
Is there a project at Telefónica that you are particularly happy or proud of?
One of the longest and most ambitious projects we have had in hand since I started is the Development Platform, a platform that tries to standardise and accelerate internal developments within the company.
As I say, it is an ambitious project, not only because of the work that goes into developing this platform, but also because of knowing how to push it within Telefónica, and to have a product that can be equally interesting for everyone.
I think this has been the most ambitious software project I have ever come across, but in spite of that, and especially thanks to teamwork, we are able to do something bigger than I imagined it would be at the beginning.
We are not close to being finished yet, but my expectations are high.
What do you think Telefónica has contributed to society?
In my opinion, the most important thing is that it has boosted communication between people, and without Telefónica there would not be the current infrastructure that allows millions of people to communicate as easily as they do today in Spain.
With the significant infrastructure and customer base it has, it has helped drive greater competitiveness in the telecommunications sector in Spain, which benefits us users enormously by encouraging innovation and improving prices.
As I mentioned, it has also been at the forefront of innovation, which has brought about a drastic change in the services offered over the internet, and has driven the digital transformation of companies in various sectors
Telefónica has also contributed to the training of several young people in school 42, which has been highly recognised.
Where do you see Telefónica in the future?
I think this is complicated to answer for a number of reasons: we are dealing with a corporation that has a presence in many places and is at the forefront in the implementation of very different technologies. In the end, it is not just a telecommunications operator as many people think.
On the other hand, the world is changing. Technology is evolving by leaps and bounds, often in directions we never thought possible. The most important thing about this is that I see Telefónica moving hand in hand with the technologies that will be in demand in the future so that we can continue to create value.
Could you live without a mobile phone?
Not at all, today, the mobile phone has become an extension of ourselves. It is an indispensable tool for our daily lives in any field.
It is not just a mobile phone as it was a few years ago, which only gave you the ability to talk. Now you can communicate with people in a thousand different ways, you can see what’s going on in the world, you can work with it or you can even control the lights in your house.
It is too complete a tool for us to be able to afford not to use it, but it also carries risks, and it is important to know how to make the right use of its potential.
Help us solve one of humanity’s great enigmas: the potato omelette… With onion or without onion?
The omelette has to be with onion, otherwise it is not an omelette, it is an unfinished joke.
Even if you don’t like onions, they don’t take up any space in a good omelette.
Nominate another colleague to appear in this section.
I nominate Andrés Ederra Fernández.
