Telefonica Partners With Qualcomm to Develop Metaverse Initiatives

Telefonica Partners With Qualcomm to Develop Metaverse Initiatives

Telefonica, one of the largest telecom carriers in Spain, and Qualcomm, the chip maker, have inked a partnership for joint extended reality and metaverse initiatives. Telefonica will use Snapdragon Spaces, a new technology from Qualcomm, to offer metaverse experiences to its customers. The agreement also includes the possibility of pursuing joint commercial opportunities.

Telefonica Partners With Qualcomm to Deliver Metaverse Experiences

Telefonica, one of the biggest telecom carriers in Spain and Europe, has announced a partnership with Qualcomm, the chip maker, to collaborate in the production of metaverse-related initiatives. The agreement establishes that the telecom infrastructure of Telefonica will serve as a platform to deploy experiences produced with Qualcomm technology.

The technology, named "Snapdragon Spaces," is a full stack of programs that allow developers to focus on developing the experiences, especially for augmented reality headsets. Spaces is a device-independent technology, so the metaverses using it can be run with any headset on the market, including the Meta Quest line of devices. Telefonica will include this technology in initiatives to be developed on its Metaverse Hub, a location dedicated to Web3, augmented reality, and metaverse initiatives.

Telefonica’s VP of Devices & Consumer IoT, Daniel Hernandez, spoke about the partnership deal and what it means for the future of the company.

"XR (extended reality) will bring a new dimension to the digital and real world, allowing people to communicate, do business, socialize, and be entertained in new ways. We are preparing for this future, building the infrastructure, upgrading equipment, evolving our services, and establishing partnerships that will allow us to bring innovative new devices and services to customers."

Two Brands in the Metaverse

The interest of the two companies in the metaverse and augmented reality is not new, as they have previously invested and forged partnerships in the sector. Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon gave his take on the metaverse in May, stating it would be a very big opportunity for the companies. The company recently closed a deal with Meta to develop metaverse-specific silicon to be used in Meta’s next line of headsets.

Telefonica has been involved in the metaverse projects. The company invested an undisclosed amount in Gamium, a Spanish open world, through Wayra, an open innovation platform of the company.