News
Spanish incumbent eyes big data opportunities in China’s transportation, retail, tourism industries.
Telefonica on Tuesday formed a joint venture with China Unicom that allows the Spanish incumbent to offer its Smart Steps big data services in China.
Smart Steps extracts anonymous customer data, such as location, from the mobile network and turns it into information that is potentially lucrative for corporate clients.
"The product provides enterprises and institutions with tailor-made, state-of-the-art big data insights and related services, satisfying the strategic, operational and marketing needs of its customers," explained Telefonica, in a statement.
The joint venture with China Unicom, called ‘Smart Steps Digital Technology Company Limited’, will see Telefonica offer Smart Steps outside its operating footprint for the first time.
"It is expected that Smart Steps services can be applied extensively in China," in sectors including transportation, tourism, real estate, retail, security, finance, urban planning, and business consultancy, among others, said Telefonica.
The joint venture will be 55% owned by China Unicom, with Telefonica controlling the remaining 45%.
"For Telefonica, the joint venture enables access to the tremendous potential of the big data market of China," Telefonica said, adding that it will also contribute to the overall development of China’s big data services market.
Telefonica and China Unicom have been working together on various self-styled ‘digital initiatives’ since 2009. In September 2015, the telcos signed a cloud collaboration deal that saw them agree to provide access to three of each other’s data centres.
