Telefonica is to create a video platform with Microsoft, as part of the Spanish telecoms group's ongoing push into digital services.

The new platform will enable services such as timeshifting and multiscreen across Telefonica's video services, and first deployments will be in Brazil, Chile and Spain, Telefonica said.

The company, battling recession in Spain and debt of over €50 billion, has put its faith in digital services. It expects London-based Telefonica Digital to generate revenue of €5 billion by 2015.

"It allows us to meet customer demands for access to video content on an ever-expanding range of devices," Telefonica Digital's director of digital services, Vivek Dev, said.

Telefonica expects to extend television services based on the new platform to businesses in other countries over the next few years.

Latin America now accounts for more of the company's revenue than Europe and Telefonica is focused on making money from the region as Spain drags on the business.

Reuters