Update: The official news is out—Julio Linares has been appointed COO of Telefonica, (NYSE: TEF) with all three regional business units reporting to him. At the same time, the company surprised observers with word that head of Spain Antonio Viana-Baptista is leaving for personal reasons; he’ll be replaced by Guillermo Ansaldo. More at Reuters.

Network operator Telefonica has tapped its head of planning Julio Linares to become its next CEO, according to Reuters, citing Spanish newspaper reports. Telefonica has not yet confirmed the move, and said it would release a statement later today. Spain’s Cinco Dias newspaper noted that Telefonica hasn’t had a CEO (or COO) in four years, and that the appointment would free up chairman Cesar Alierta by giving Linares responsibility for the day-to-day running of the company while Alierta could then concentrate on strategy.

Telefonica likes to promote from within. The company recently appointed former UK O2 chief Matthew Key to step into its Europe-wide ceo role after Peter Erskine stepped down a few weeks ago. Key was then replaced by Ronan Dunne, who was bumped up as the new UK O2 head from his former post as its chief financial officer. Telefonica is also expected to announce a board shuffle. Former Endesa chairman Manuel Pizarro (close to the opposition Popular Party) and Javier de Paz (close to the ruling Socialist party) are supposed to replace Maximio Carpio and Enrique Used.

(DJ explains the confusion between CEO and COO ... in Spanish, “consejero delegado” translates to chief executive but Telefonica used COO in its English-language release.)

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