Tuesday July 18, 7:17 am Eastern Time
Microsoft, Telefonica sign joint services pact
MADRID, July 18 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) and Spain's Telefonica on Tuesday announced a joint services deal in which the two giants will use each other's main products -- software and telecommunications.
No financial figure was attached to the deal in which Telefonica will employ software developed by Microsoft with special emphasis on call centres, the Internet, mobile telephony and other services.
Microsoft in turn will have access to fixed and mobile telephone service and call centres in countries where Telefonica operates, mostly Spain and Latin America. The agreement also calls for the joint development of applications for use by Telefonica based on the Windows operating system and Explorer browser, plus mobile, wireless, Internet and multimedia technologies for clients, the two companies said in a news release.
``This agreement with Microsoft will give us the chance to offer the latest technology to our clients around the world,'' said Luis Furnells, Telefonica's corporate director for organization and operating systems.
Microsoft called it an opportunity to gain market share in the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking world, where Telefonica is a major telecoms and Internet player
