Mr. César Alierta,

Telefónica S.A.

"Broadband is more than just another technology, it is an incredibly powerful tool which is able to transform our societies and economies. By allowing easier access to information globally and improving our ways of communication wherever we are, broadband has the capacity to benefit everyone.

However, to achieve this vision, we need to make sure that private investments in broadband infrastructure are happening over the next years throughout the whole world. Telefónica is an active stakeholder in this evolution. We have already invested more than EUR 7.250 million in 2009 worldwide, of which more than EUR 3.450 million in Latin America alone.

I am honored to contribute to the Broadband Commission and am committed to live up to the challenge to give broadband access to everyone around the world."

Born 5 May 1945, Mr. Alierta holds a degree in law from the University of Zaragoza, and earned an MBA at the University of Columbia (New York) in 1970.

He has been Chairman of Telefónica since July 2000, and member of the Boards of Directors of China Unicom and Telecom Italia. Alierta is also member of the Colombia Business School Board of Overseers.

Between 1970 and 1985, he was General Manager of the Capital Markets division at Banco Urquijo in Madrid. Subsequently, he was the Chairman and founder of Beta Capital, which he combined from 1991 with his post as Chairman of the Spanish Financial Analysts' Association. He has also been a member of the Board of Directors and Standing Committee of the Madrid Stock Exchange. Between 1996 and 2000, he held the post of Chairman of Tabacalera, S.A., and subsequently Altadis following the Company's merger with the French group Seita. He joined the Board of Directors of Telefónica on 29th of January, 1997.

Among his latest awards, on September 2005, César Alierta received ‘The Global Spanish Entrepreneur’ award from the Spanish/US Chamber of Commerce. This prize was awarded in recognition of the Telefónica Group's success in joining the NY Dow Jones Global Titans 50 index. Telefónica is the first Spanish company and one of the few European entities to belong to this index, which comprises the 50 biggest companies in the world.

In April 2008, César Alierta was appointed chairman of the Social Board of the UnED (national Long Distance Spanish University).