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Telefónica, last week announced that it has increased its investment in innovation and development with the aim of staying at the cutting edge of technology and transforming into a "digital telco". The investments are mostly undertaken by its R&D&I (Research, Development and Innovation) wing, Telefónica R&D - its product factory - where new product innovations are conceptualized and tested.
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According to Telefónica, it has invested more than 1,111 million euros in 2014 for its development and innovation programs compared to the 1,046 million that is spent a year ago, representing a 6% year-on-year increase. This growth is also evident with regard to the total investments made in research, development and innovation, in which Telefónica increased its spent by 13.5% to 6,973 million euros in 2014, compared to the 6,142 million invested in 2013.
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Telefónica R&D has to-date developed some of the most ground-breaking products, including the likes of Thinking Things (the first plug and play approximation for the Internet of Things); Click&Pizza (the first consumer IoT button, launched together with Telepizza); Firefox Hello, a service for making free video calls and TU Go, an application that enables the user to have the core functionality of their phone across all devices (PC, tablets) and to communicate via a data connection. In addition, Telefónica R&D continues to be a leading provider of OTT video services in a considerable number of countries in Latin America and Europe.
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With regards to future-proofing Telefónica’s networks, Telefónica R&D has strengthened its leadership in network virtualisation following the creation of an NFV Reference Lab.
