Telefonica and Myriad to Deliver Social Networking in Latin America

Telefonica, one of the major mobile operators in the world, announced that Myriad Group has been chosen to provide social-networking services across 12 countries in Latin America. The Myriad Group is one of the leading companies in mobile technology with over two billion mobile phones currently using its software.

Myriad's services will be offered under Telefonica's Movistar brand and will allow simultaneous access to multiple social-networking sites, using mobile browsers or other mobile technologies. The partnership between Telefonica and Myriad aims to provide a richer, more enjoyable social-networking experience to Movistar customers, on a wide array of devices including Movistar phones.

“Latin American consumers are enthusiastic users of social networks. This agreement will bring them a compelling and affordable way to access these sites from their mobile phones,” Luis Miguel Gilperez Lopez, managing director, Mobile Division of Telefónica Latin América, said. “One of the most appealing aspects of Myriad is its focus on mass-market phones rather than just high-end devices, which will enable Telefónica to reach the widest possible audience and make the most of this exciting opportunity.”

A series of research projects conducted by Internet measurement specialist comScore, Inc., have shown that, in December 2009, over 65 percent of the global Web users visited at least one social-networking site, the adoption rate exceeding 80 percent in Latin America.

Telefonica is currently operating in 12 Latin American countries with an estimate of over 80 million subscribers. The countries that the mobile operator covers are: Colombia, El Salvador, Argentina, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Panama, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Guatemala and Mexico.

This partnership with Telefonica follows Myriad's successful acquisition of Xumii, Inc., one of the pioneers of social-media apps. Also, the successful collaboration with the Australian mobile network operator Optus, which contracted Myriad with the purpose of delivering social-networking services to more than eight million Australian subscribers, has played an important role in the company's partnership with Telefonica.