Ooredoo, Telefonica Sign Strategic Partnership Agreement

Doha, March 04 (QNA) - Ooredoo and Telefonica, a Spanish leading telecommunications provider in terms of market capitalization and number of customers, have announced the signing of a strategic partnership agreement that will allow Ooredoo to optimize its affiliates purchasing costs in selected types of network and customer equipment. Under the terms of the agreement, Ooredoo will become part of Telefonica's partners program, which enables telecommunications operators to work together and to benefit from Telefonica's scale and knowledge, Ooredoo said in a press release issued Wednesday. The two companies agreed to work together to capture synergies in procurement, the main area of cooperation. Both groups will focus on leveraging the economies of scale and the broad experience in centralized procurement of Telefonica. They will work towards coordinating selected purchases "end to end," including technical alignment of specifications, selection of vendors and synchronized negotiations. Ooredoo and Telefonica will also engage in other business areas under the scope of the partners program such as alignment in key technology projects, common approach to multinational clients for M2M, managed mobility and data services, staff development and training programs, and international wholesale. The partnership is expected to reinforce the positions of both groups in the areas agreed and further accelerate Ooredoo consolidation as an international group by sharing Telefonica's proven experience on cross-country coordination and synergies generation. (QNA)