MADRID -- Telefónica, through its subsidiary Telefónica International Wholesale Services, and China Unicom have signed a strategic agreement to extend and reinforce their global footprint by sharing the use of Points of Presence (PoPs) on their international networks. Telefónica will be able to use PoPs on China Unicom’s network in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Australia, France, and Sweden. China Unicom in turn will be able to enhance their network with PoPs set up on Telefónica’s network in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Peru, Venezuela, Mexico, USA, Puerto Rico, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

This agreement derives from the wide-ranging strategic alliance entered into by the two companies and based on cooperation in areas such as purchasing, mobile services platforms, services for multinationals, wholesale services, roaming or technology. An alliance which also includes a share exchanging agreement between both parties and reciprocal representation on the Company’s Board’s, as well as a strategic alignment to exploit the combined global scale of both Telefónica and China Unicom.

Telefónica SA (NYSE: TEF)