Telefonica

Dow Jones Newswires reports that the local units of Spain's Telefonica and Mexico's America Movil will maintain their plans to invest a total of US$205 million in Ecuador this year to improve services, technology and coverage.

Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica is reportedly lining up an offer to buy-out Telecom Italia's 30 percent stake in Cuba's incumbent operator, Etecsa.

According to Telecompaper, Telecom Italia has denied rumours of plans to merge with Spanish operator Telefonica. The statement follows earlier press reports in local newspaper Corriere della Sera claiming the possibility of a high-profile merger between the two operators.

Growth in its Latin American mobile businesses helped Spanish-based operator Telefonica report a 9.8 percent rise in first-quarter net profit to EUR1.69 billion.

Spanish telecoms group Telefonica has appointed former Vodafone manager Rene Schuster to head its German business and called its current CEO home after just two years, reports Reuters.

The Wall Street Journal reports this week that Spain's Telefonica has confirmed plans to invest EUR800 million (US$1.16 billion) to maintain its shareholding in China's second-largest mobile operator, China Unicom.

Cellular News notes that mobile email vendor Seven has announced that Telefonica's existing business email service, Mail Movistar, has now been expanded to include the consumer segment.