Spain's Largest Phone Company Tries to Treat Alcoholism, Body Disorders

Known as Alpha, the former monopoly's initiative is part of Chairman Jose Maria Alvarez Pallette’s push to experiment with radically new lines of business, a unique fixation in a sector whose track record of losing to the tech giants means that most telcos are now largely sticking to their knitting. “Alpha is where the future of Telefonica is going to be written,’’ says Pablo Rodriguez, the unit’s CEO, a physicist who previously worked at Bell Labs. While the building serves as Telefonica’s Catalonia headquarters, Alpha sits at arms’ length from the rest of the company, which doesn’t disclose the unit’s financials.