How long have you been with Telefónica and how would you rate your time here?
I remember my first day at Telefónica as if it were yesterday, 19 April 1999.
On that day Telefónica was 75 years old and that means that next April 19, it will celebrate its centenary and I will be 25 years old. I will have lived one out of every four years of its history, I think the best and where the most things have happened. My balance is very positive, in my career I have had the good fortune to know all kinds of companies, many of them extraordinary and with all due respect to them: for impact, purpose, team, for many reasons, I remain with our Telefónica.
Is there a project at Telefónica that you are particularly proud or satisfied with?
There are many and here there is one very interesting thing that I would like to highlight: in the field of Business, achievements are usually collective, they are achieved thanks to a team: engineering, commercial team, specialist sales, management control, operations. Sometimes even the people team can be key to achieving a project.
If I had to highlight any of them, it would be the projects in public administrations because of their impact on society as a whole. I had the opportunity to attend a European award ceremony in Brussels to recognise the Madrid112 emergency centre for its management of the terrible 11M attack in Madrid. The person who received the award highlighted Telefónica’s great work as a technological partner, essential for the centre’s operation. It is impossible not to be moved by this and it allows us to understand the scope and impact of our work.
In the current phase, helping SMEs to digitise is also proving to be exciting.
What do you think Telefónica has contributed to society?
We have one of the best networks in the world, which provides the backbone of a country, balances the opportunities of its citizens, its companies, its SMEs. We contribute decisively to GDP, to the generation of direct and indirect employment, our television is a great investment for national culture, we are bringing digitalisation to large, medium and small companies, the commitment to entrepreneurship, the work of the Foundation, the clear commitment to diversity. It is a long etcetera and I believe that we have a very important role to play and that we are contributing to making our society better and better.
Where do you see Telefónica in the future?
On the one hand, I believe that we have to make a great collective effort to stay at the forefront, globalisation is leading us to have different competitors in the digital economy and it is important that we all feel part of a project to remain leaders.
On the other hand, I believe that telcos have had a complex period, but things are changing and we will have a more favourable situation. It will catch us all working and with a lot of focus on our new Strategic Plan. I think Telefónica has identified the opportunities in each of its regions and will know how to take advantage of them.
I look to the future with optimism.
Could you live without a mobile phone?
Nothing, a disaster, fail.
I can’t leave a question unanswered and I’m constantly asking questions, I’m very inquisitive about it.
I will use this interview to try to improve.
Help us solve one of humanity’s great enigmas: the potato omelette… With onion or without onion?
With onions, but avoiding dogmatism, all options must be respected.
When it comes to gastronomy, the place and the company are very important.
To eat a good omelette, I recommend a place in the main square of Hondarribia overlooking the mouth of the Bidasoa and France in the background. If anyone needs more details, write to me and I will tell you the exact place.
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Ana Ruíz Andújar is sure to have interesting things to tell us.
