Compania Telefonica Nacional de Espana so bestrides the Iberian Peninsular like a Colossus that there is not much point in looking for another industrial partner there. Accordingly, although Telefonica is already deeply involved in ventures with two of its arch rivals, Fujitsu Ltd and AT&T Co, IBM has nevertheless agreed its own joint venture with the Spanish phone company – on value-added network services. The initial step, Agence France Presse reports from Madrid, will be formation of a company to conduct market studies to determine the most promising value-added network services for the Spanish market. The new company, capitalised at about $165,000, will be held 30% each by IBM and Telefonica, the other 40% being shared by Banco de Bilbao, the Visa-Espagne credit card operation the pensions bank.
