How long have you been with Telefónica and what is your assessment of your time here?
At the end of the year I will have been with the company for thirty-six years. Thirty-six years of which I feel tremendously proud because I believe I have contributed, or at least I have tried to contribute, to optimising the company’s investments in such a way as to achieve the greatest return of money and in the shortest possible time, but, at the same time, I have tried to improve the quality of life of the people in the areas where I have had responsibility at all times. I have always had the satisfaction of benefiting both sides: company and society.
Is there any project at Telefónica that you feel particularly satisfied with or proud of?
The transformation of the copper network to fibre (in capital letters) seems to me to be an epic project; a work of giants, which has not yet been fully appreciated. We have brought the future closer to the world, and we have brought the world closer to the future. We are giving empty Spain the opportunity to fill up; we are bringing our companies closer to the world’s leading research centres and giving them the opportunity to attract talent wherever it is, without the need to move it to their headquarters. I am absolutely convinced that the future will bring the deconcentration of activity in large cities, because common sense dictates it, and our work, our network, will be largely responsible for this transformation.
What do you think Telefónica has contributed to society?
I cannot conceive of today’s society without our services. We have been the driving force behind the modern society in which we find ourselves, although I have the impression that we have been somewhat ahead of the needs, but we are showing the way to a future in which geographical distance and age are not synonymous with social alienation. I am sure that society will evolve according to a guide that we have helped to draw up. Ten years ago, no one would have thought that a person in their eighties would have their own fibre, and today, my mother, for example, who is over that age, tells me off when she loses the wifi icon on her Android. We are living closer and closer to what the science fiction movies showed us, and it is partly thanks to us. Other operators have come along to do the same, but they have only followed in our footsteps.
Where do you see Telefónica in the future?
Being the pioneer is not enough of a guarantee to prevail. Telefónica has put a lot of enthusiasm and courage into the deployment of fibre, it has done something great and customers have been grateful for it, becoming loyal to us and increasing our revenues, until other operators arrived who, attracted by our success, also opted for high-speed communications. Just when we think we can relax because almost the entire network has been transformed, we see the arrival of companies that, with the sole argument of price, seduce our customers. Unfortunately, if we relax, we lose. Where Telefónica sees itself in 2050 will depend a lot on its ability to adapt to the new times, although I am sure it will find a way to continue to lead communications in this and other countries.
Could you live without a mobile phone?
No. Another question?
In all seriousness, I rarely buy a mobile phone worth more than a couple of hundred euros, but once it has been with me for a while, its value becomes incalculable. Half my life is spent
I spend on my phone. The pages I look at every day, my notes, my memories, my photos, my music, my locations ….. I only need to use it as a screwdriver. There are people who live without electricity and running water; you can also live without a mobile phone, but life would not be the same.
Help us solve one of humanity’s great enigmas: the potato omelette… With onion or without onion?
I love onion! … but out of the potato omelette. The loose and slippery texture of the onion does not go well with the firmness of the potato in the omelette. An omelette that doesn’t need the push of a good caña to pass through the oesophagus lacks personality.
Nominate another colleague to appear in this section
I am going to recommend my boss: José María Márquez Guerrero, with whom I often disagree on the approach we take to our work, but who has been able to appreciate the value of GIS and the complicated world of geographic databases. This is not easy to sell, but he has managed to do it.
