Telefonica Moviles To Buy 40 Million Mobile Handsets In 2005

MADRID -(Dow Jones)- The chairman of Telefonica Moviles SA (TEM), Antonio Viana-Baptista, said Friday the Spanish mobile phone operator is planning to buy over 40 million mobile handsets in 2005.

Speaking at the company's annual general meeting, Viana-Baptista said Telefonica Moviles will account for about 6% of worldwide handset purchases.

The company ended the first quarter with over 81 million subscribers, up from 78.2 million at the end of December, he said.

There were 422,000 net subscriber additions in Mexico during the quarter, 419,000 in Argentina and 100,000 in Spain.

Telefonica Moviles is 93%-owned by telecommunications giant Telefonica SA (TEF).

Company Web site: http://www.telefonicamoviles.com

-By David Roman, Dow Jones Newswires; 34 913958125; david.roman@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 6th May 2005