Telefonica unveiled its Reconnect programme, as chief Jose Maria Alvarez-Pallete (pictured) acknowledged dissatisfaction with the organisation’s progress to date.

The CEO said the company had seen growth in revenue, operating income before depreciation and amortisation, customers and margins; invested “record numbers to deploy and digitalise a next generation network”; reduced debt by €10 billion since 2016; and kept “an attractive remuneration” for shareholders.

But, he said: “We must aim to capture greater growth for all our stakeholders”.

Noting challenges including regulation which has not kept pace with the current era, “loss of relevance” as an industry and the intensity of investment needed to deploy 5G and fibre, he commented: “We have already done much of our homework. We have transformed and digitalised our network, and applied artificial intelligence [AI] to our platforms, which will be essential for capturing growth opportunities.”

Alvarez-Pallete said Reconnect has five elements: growth in relevance for customers through “an excellent digital experience based on the simplicity and personalisation of the offer”, powered by AI; revenue growth with a focus on monetising a value proposition which includes both its own products and services, and those of third parties; and growth in returns through an increase in revenue, efficiencies generated by digitalisation, simplification and management based on the return on invested capital.

Also on the agenda is a commitment to responsible and sustainable growth within the societies in which Telefonica operates; and the motivation of the team as “a key element capable of increasing growth”.

Alavarez-Pallete concluded: “Whether the glass is half empty or half full isn’t important. The only thing that matters is that it can be refilled”.