Telecom Italia Should Work With Rivals on New Fiber Network, Calabro Says
Telecom Italia SpA and rivals such as Vodafone Group Plc should work together to build an ultrafast broadband network in Italy, the country’s communications regulator said.
Phone companies, local governments and entrepreneurs should cooperate with the aim of upgrading Italy’s copper network to a fiber-optic grid, the regulator said in an annual report presented in Rome today.
Italy needs a coordinated plan to transform itself into a “fiber nation to avoid costly duplications of civilian infrastructure,” Corrado Calabro, the chairman of the regulator, said in a speech. Greater use of smartphones in Italy may cause a “collapse” of the mobile wireless network if there isn’t “fast intervention,” he said.
Vodafone, FastWeb SpA and Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA said in May they would invest 2.5 billion euros ($3.16 billion) in a network to serve about 10 million people in Italy’s 15 largest cities within five years. Tiscali SpA also joined that group, whose members called on Telecom Italia to take part.
A joint approach offers “more certain profitability returns,” and would encourage financing from investors such as Cassa Depositi & Prestiti, Italy’s state-owned lender, the regulator said.
Telecom Italia Chief Executive Officer Franco Bernabe said June 10 that his company’s planned ultrafast broadband network will reach 50 percent of the population by 2018 and that the provider is proceeding with a plan to upgrade its grid to high speed.
The CEO said today there is no risk of a collapse of the wireless network in Italy, Ansa newswire reported. Italy ranks second in Europe for the usage of mobile broadband and data traffic, Calabro said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Chiara Remondini in Milan at cremondini@bloomberg.net
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