Spanish giant Telefonica looks set to emerge from a rocky week on the stock exchange with solid new plans for future media and telecoms growth in Latin America and Spain.

Mirroring telecoms companies' performances across Europe, shares in Telefonica dipped dramatically over the last week in response to concerns that its multifarious Latin American interests could suffer from economic instability in the region, particularly in Argentina and Brazil.

Recent moves suggest anything but a Telefonica pull-out of Latin America. On Monday, reports said the company would up its Brazilian telephony investments by $1.82 billion, a third more than anticipated. On Tuesday, the Madrid-based multinational issued 122.6 million new shares in a deal to acquire stakes from the US' Motorola in four Mexican wireless telephone companies. Motorola later said it would sell off the Telefonica shares.

In Spain, the Science and Technology Ministry gave Telefonica the greenlight to move ahead with plans to construct high-speed ADSL cable lines across the country, overriding opposition from competitors. The plans should aid synergies across Telefonica phone, internet and TV activities. Earlier this month Telefonica president Cesar Alierta quelled rumours when he promised to continue investing in multimedia filial Telefonica Media, which posted losses last year of Euros 627.1m.