Telefonica

Telefónica contributes to affordable digital access through a number of initiatives for vulnerable groups. For example, its programme Internet para todos (Internet for all) provides connectivity to rural households in Peru. The company has several programmes aimed at developing the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) capabilities of women and girls.  

Telefónica is also one of the few companies to commit to a time-bound goal to develop 100% of its products and services using accessibility design principles by 2022. The company discloses its community investments, as well as the income taxes it pays and its employment and indirect economic impact in its main countries of operation.   

Telefónica has training programmes for basic, intermediate and technical skills development as well as school connectivity. Its ProFuturo programme integrates multimedia educational content into the classroom. The programme operates in 40 countries around the world and is one of the few examples where there is a third-party assessment of the programme’s impact. Telefónica‘s disclosure of participation and financial metrics for its programmes is exemplary. 

Telefónica is a forerunner in advancing safe and secure use of digital technologies. It demonstrates senior-level oversight of cybersecurity and discloses how it monitors, responds to and reports on security incidents. The company also has group privacy principles and reports the government requests it receives for personal information in each of its countries of operation. The company demonstrates a strong commitment to protecting children online by formulating specific business principles on child online safety and partnering with external groups on initiatives in this area. 

Telefónica is an industry leader in terms of open, inclusive and ethical digital innovation. It participates in several initiatives for open source projects and standards for telecommunication networks. The company supports the tech innovation ecosystem with a venture capital fund, an accelerator for start-ups and support for social entrepreneurs.  

Telefónica works with several universities in different countries and is a pioneer in sharing big data to support sustainable development research. Additionally, Telefónica is one of the few digital companies to have adopted ethical principles for its artificial intelligence (AI) research. 

Telefónica can consider carrying out third-party evaluations of its initiatives for enhancing digital access and digital inclusivity for women and girls to encourage a better understanding of the impacts. It also has the opportunity to report how the economic value it generates is distributed among its stakeholders.  

In addition to its programme ProFuturo, Telefónica can consider carrying out third-party assessments of its other skills development programmes to gauge their impact. 

No evidence was found of significant risks for the company in this area. 

The company has an opportunity to make a high-level commitment to open standards. 

Telefónica commits to respecting human rights and the ILO core labour rights. It also has a publicly available policy statement that expects its business relationships to commit to respecting the ILO core labour rights. Furthermore, Telefónica identifies, assesses and takes action to address its salient human rights issues in its own operations and in its business relationships. The company identifies and engages with stakeholders whose human rights have been or may be impacted by its operations. The company can, however, improve its disclosures on stakeholder engagement by providing specific examples of how the engagement is carried out. Telefónica has a grievance mechanism accessible to both workers and external stakeholders to raise human rights concerns and complaints. 

Telefónica publicly commits to respecting worker health and safety and places the same expectation on its business relationships. Moreover, Telefónica provides time-bound targets to paying all its workers a living wage. The company also discloses the proportion of its workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements per country. Telefónica does not disclose a policy commitment stating that it does not require workers to work more than the regular and overtime hours, and it does not explicitly state that it requires its business relationships to make this commitment. Telefónica does, however, commit to promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment and provides information on its workforce diversity for age and gender per employee category.

Telefónica has a policy prohibiting bribery and corruption, and it includes anti-bribery and anti-corruption clauses in its business relationship contracts. Furthermore, the company takes steps to identify and address bribery and corruption and has a grievance mechanism for stakeholders to raise concerns and complaints on the topic. Telefónica has a global tax strategy and discloses tax information for its main markets.