The first round of confrontation in the board of Telecom closes with a truce armed. Thanks to the mediation of the partner Cassa Depositi e Prestiti who broke a spear in favor of the CEO Luigi Gubitosi. And thus kept the French shareholder at bay Vivendi at least until the February council. Meanwhile, Brussels has given the unconditional green light to the joint control of its rival Open Fiber by the tandem Cassa Depositi e Prestiti-Macquarie. And the public company Infratel he announced that in October the works for the installation of the fiber in the white areas, 72 per cent were achieved.
There is no denying: there is great excitement in the world of telecommunications Italian because we are entering a decisive phase for the development of new generation infrastructures and for the future of the former public monopolist. Not surprisingly i labor unions I am on a war footing as evidenced by a heavy note addressed to the Minister of Economic Development, Giancarlo Giorgetti. “While the state of the telecommunications sector has been denounced for months and in particular the issue of the delay in the infrastructure of a single fiber network, the priority is to convene dazn“, Reads a joint statement by Slc Cgil, Fistel Cisl and Uilcom Uil. “Let me be clear, the rudeness, not to mention the disfigurement, the holders of the Mise are not doing it so much to the writing unions as to the country, to the workers in the telecommunications sector and to the users of football via streaming. There mobilization it becomes inevitable in the absence of a prompt call “.
For trade unions as well as for investors, Telecom and yours industrial plan are a central theme. But for clarification we will still have to wait. For now, the only certainty is that Gubitosi remains in place. However, the tug-of-war with the French partner Vivendi does not bode well for the manager and for his holding company project. According to the French shareholder, the plan is old stuff that is unlikely to be able to create value by raising the stock on the stock market. Hence, after unconvincing quarterly results, the desire to turn the page not only by taking the opportunity of network separation from the rest of the company, but also starting an intense one renovation with a decisive cost cut. For Paris, participation in the project is certainly not enough cloud national to secure the future of Telecom, to reduce the heavy debt and distribute the money coupons. We need a clearer intervention. Thus, in the council, convened at the request of the French, “the path was defined for the preparation and sharing of the 2022-2024 strategic plan to be approved at the meeting next February”. In other words, redde rationem postponed.
Meanwhile, Open Fiber is moving forward in laying the fiber, as reported by Infratel data. The public company, controlled by the Mise, explained that to date they are 7262 construction sites are open by Open Fiber in the white areas, ie areas where no investments by telephone operators are expected in the next three years. In total, the company, which is developing a fiber (FTTH) and radio link (FWA) network, has collected orders for 1.6 billion. From the operational start of the Bul plan in 2016 there are a total of 2,897 municipalities on the market, 1,551 municipalities tested positively, but the municipalities completed with communication of completion of the network system (CUIR) were 149. In summary, the plan to lay the fiber in the less profitable areas is advancing. Albeit with delay compared to initial expectations. The operation would be much faster if the forces of Open Fiber joined those of FiberCop, the Telecom network company.
But even yesterday, at the end of the council, the former public monopolist clarified that “there is no ongoing negotiation relating to the network or other strategic assets “. It is undeniable, however, that the go-ahead from Brussels to the handing over of Enel’s stake to the CDP-Macquarie duo is also a fundamental step in evaluating the possibility of a merger between the two realities. Now, however, there is a problem of valorising Telecom’s assets with respect to Open Fiber which, under the terms of the agreement with Cdp-Macquarie, is worth over 5 billion. The issue is not secondary given that the entire Telecom market is worth just over seven billion. Not to mention the fact that the single network project doesn’t seem to have the backing of Draghi government especially in the version in which Telecom would keep 51% of the new company of the new generation infrastructure.
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