14 DAY TRIAL // Telefónica and ZTE announced recently that they planned on launching a wide range of new mobile phones in 12 Latin American countries during the ongoing year. According to the duo, a full range of Movistar-branded handsets will arrive on the market on the carrier's airwaves, and the first of them will be unveiled in the second quarter of 2010. Moreover, they also announced that, according to a newly signed agreement, ZTE would make Movistar-branded phones exclusively for Telefónica in Latin America.
“Consumers in Latin America are becoming increasingly demanding and have specific requirements in terms of handset design and desired features. By customising a complete range of handsets, ZTE will enable Telefónica to meet the requirements of its Latin American customers and further build the Movistar brand,” Luis Miguel Gilpérez, director of Mobile Business, Telefonica Internacional, said.
According to the two involved companies, the new mobile phones have been designed jointly by ZTE and Telefónica, and they come as the result of the first strategic cooperation in the handset space between the two companies. As most of you might already know, Telefónica is one of the largest telecom companies in Latin America, and it is set to launch the customized ZTE phones in Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama and Nicaragua.
ZTE, one of the leading mobile-phone makers in the world, and also a globally recognized supplier of data cards, is already working with some of the world's top ten operators for handset delivery, and now it has also reached the Latin American market with its products. For what it's worth, the new agreement with Telefónica will certainly help it, since the carrier “has a significant presence in 25 countries and a customer base that amounts to 268 million accesses around the world. Telefónica has a strong presence in Spain, Europe and Latin America, where the company focuses an important part of its growth strategy.”