ROME - Italy’s single broadband network operator cannot be controlled by a majority shareholder, the deputy industry minister said on Friday after Telecom Italia said it would not accept less than 50% of any network.
The Italian government is trying to negotiate a deal between the phone group and Open Fiber, which is jointly owned by state lender CDP and utility Enel , to merge fibre assets and create a single national champion.“Under a regulatory and antitrust profile, a single network company that supplies wholesale access services to all operators cannot be in the hands of a single, vertically integrated majority shareholder, “ Stefano Buffagni told daily newspaper la Repubblica.
“Today, all of our most sensitive data runs on that network and the competitiveness of our companies ,” Buffagni said.