How long have you been with Telefónica and what is your assessment of your time here?
I have been here for 25 years, the first of them as an intern. I have spent almost my entire career in Operations and Network, first helping to create what are now known as “legacy” networks and now helping to shut them down. When I joined Telefónica, ADSL was just starting to be deployed. If I remember correctly, one of the company’s objectives at that time was to reach every home in Spain with 1 MB. It’s been a long time!
My assessment is positive in general. I have participated in beautiful, exciting projects, with groups in which there was/is an extraordinary atmosphere. There have also been projects that have been a bit frustrating. It’s normal, 25 years is a long time.
Is there any project at Telefónica that you feel particularly satisfied with or proud of?
I have very good memories of my participation in the design and implementation of the connectivity service of the mobile access nodes when we started to consolidate 3G (back in 2008-2009). I am also proud of the work I am doing now in the network roll-out. As I am usually the one who studies and drafts any new procedure that has to do with rollout, some colleagues call me the “alma mater of rollout”. But, as you can imagine, this would not work without the great work we have done as a team in this area.
Outside the strictly professional sphere, my mind takes me back to the early years of Proniño at Fundación Telefónica. I took part in one of the first “Solidarity Holidays”, travelling to Nicaragua. At that time, there were only a few of us who took part in volunteer projects. It was almost like a family, but very dynamic. Now everything has become much more institutionalised.
What do you think Telefónica has contributed to society?
Telefónica has been fundamental to the development and progress of Spanish society over the last century. Until the 1990s, that was obligatory because it was the state-owned company, but I think that after the liberalisation of the telecommunications market Telefónica has maintained a pioneering spirit and leadership in its DNA.
I go back to the year I joined the company, the year in which the ADSL rollout began. ADSL had only been tested in the United States 2 or 3 years earlier. Nobody had yet decided to make a massive commitment to this technology in order to make a leap in the quality of Internet connections. Telefónica “jumped into the pool” and the result was a success. This is what I mean by pioneering spirit.
Where do you see Telefónica in the future?
I hope it will continue to be a key player in the development of our society. That we continue to offer attractive solutions for the population, and that they see us as a company that is close to them and listens to them.
Could you live without a mobile phone?
I had my first mobile phone when I was 22 years old. I could live without it, but it terrifies me to think that I would have to go in person to the bank every time I needed to make a transaction, in person to the theatre box office every time I needed a ticket, and so on… and so on and so forth.
Help us solve one of the great enigmas of humanity: the potato omelette… With onion or without onion?
For me, the cooking point is more important. Let’s say that I like my omelette “just right”. That is to say, that it is not too curdled but that the egg is not half raw either. If so, I prefer it with onion.
What crazy idea would you like Telefónica to do for its centenary?
I can’t think of any at the moment. Someone told me a few days ago that, at this year’s MWC, Telefónica had set up an exhibition in which a real pianist played a virtual piano at the same time as a virtual pianist played a real piano, the heavy kind. It is likely that they will take this idea to the concerts to be held on the occasion of the centenary. That would be cool.
Nominate another colleague to appear in this section
I nominate Raúl Muñoz Bermúdez (although I’m surprised he hasn’t already participated in this initiative). Raúl spent a few months in my unit when he joined as an intern. At the beginning he had to do a somewhat routine, unattractive job, but he always managed to participate in events organised or sponsored by Telefónica (he would go out to broadcast gamers’ meetings and the like). I remember him always with a smile on his face, with a positive attitude.
