UPDATE: Italy Operators To Sign MOU On Broadband Infrastructure
October 27 2010 - 10:29AM
Dow Jones News
Italian telecoms operators are close to signing a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) on the creation of a new company to build up
high-speed broadband infrastructure, Industry Minister Paolo Romani
said Wednesday.
"The memorandum will be signed in a few days, and will see the
participation of all the operators," Romani said at a telecoms
conference in the capital.
He added the new company will be responsible for building up
basic fiber-optic infrastructure, but then will leave all the
operators free to choose different solutions to offer their own
broadband services.
The Italian government and the main telecoms operators have long
debated the best way to expand access to high-speed broadband
across the country, as Italy lags the rest of Europe in broadband
penetration.
But questions over financing and former monopoly Telecom Italia
SpA's (TI) refusal to share control over its key fixed-line network
have delayed the country's broadband plans.
Romani Wednesday invited all the operators to "be brave and take
risks," anticipating and encouraging the growth for high-speed
broadband demand in the country.
Italy's alternative operators Fastweb SpA (FWB.MI), Wind and
Vodafone Italia (VOD) earlier this year announced plans to jointly
invest EUR2.5 billion over a five-year period to build fiber in
Italy's 15 largest cities, covering about 10 million more
people.
Telecom Italia, however, dismissed calls to join the rival
broadband project and said it will push ahead with its own plans to
offer 100 megabits per second broadband to 50% of the Italian
population by 2018, pledging to invest EUR9 billion in its network
infrastructure by 2012.
The head of Italy's telecoms regulator AGCOM Wednesday welcomed
the news of an imminent agreement among operators to create a new
company for broadband infrastructure, adding a common project is
crucial to allow State-controlled fund Cassa Depositi e Prestiti
(CdP) to play a role in it.
"CdP won't necessarily have to participate in the new company's
capital, but may also contribute by providing subsidized loans,"
Corrado Calabro said in his speech at the Rome conference.
-By Giada Zampano, Dow Jones Newswires; +39 06 69766925;
giada.zampano@dowjones.com
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