3G Americas today announced that Telefonica Moviles, the second-largest multinational wireless operator in the world, is appointed to its Board of Governors effective January 1, 2006. Telefonica Moviles joins a distinguished Board that is comprised of seventeen leading operators and manufacturers who support 3G Americas’ mission to promote and facilitate the seamless deployment throughout the Americas of GSM and its evolution to 3G and beyond.

Chris Pearson, president of 3G Americas, commended the election saying, “Telefonica Moviles is a strong addition to our Board of Governors, and we welcome its added strategic insight as a leading global wireless carrier with operations in thirteen Latin American and Caribbean countries. We value the contribution that Telefonica Moviles will bring to our Board’s initiatives to continue the GSM momentum and its evolution to 3G in the region.”

“Telefonica Moviles was the first operator to launch EDGE services in Latin America in October 2003, and we look toward continuing to improve the advancement and future development of the GSM evolution throughout the region,” said Daniel Arias, Director, Regulations Division, Institutional Relations and Social Responsibility for Telefonica Moviles. “The opportunity to work strategically with an organization such as 3G Americas will help Telefonica Moviles to provide a cohesive and harmonious delivery of advanced wireless services across the continent in the many countries in which we operate.”

3G Americas’ Board of Governors members include: Andrew Corporation, Cingular Wireless (USA), Cable & Wireless (West Indies), Ericsson, Gemplus, HP, Lucent Technologies, Motorola, Nokia, Nortel Networks, Openwave Systems, Research In Motion, Rogers Wireless (Canada), Siemens, T-Mobile USA, Telcel (Mexico), Texas Instruments and, now, Telefonica Moviles.