“I think the right role in the Pnrr but also in the daily life of politics is think first of the citizens' interests, so we think about who will bring broadband to Alta Val Camonica and Sila in Calabria; second of do it in a balanced way that guarantees choice, competition, plurality of subjects, after which corporate issues must be assessed by the companies and then possibly by the antitrust authorities". This was stated by the Minister for Innovation and Digital Transition Vittorio Colao speaking this morning at the webinar of the "Forced to grow" cycle, streamed on the publications of the Caltagirone editore group.
Colao's words confirm that, as anticipated this morning by Repubblica, the single network project is not part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) transmitted by the government to Brussels where, on the contrary, reference is made to "the challenging objectives defined at European level and in the awareness that ultra-fast broadband networks are a General Purpose Technology". No longer, therefore, a "Single Network", controlled by a "vertically integrated" entity like Tim, as emerged from the wishes of the 5 Star Movement (and implemented with the consent of the Democratic Party in the first draft of the Pnrr in the Conte 2 season) but, as pleasing to the EU authorities, a broader competitive landscape in which, Colao announces, “we will make tenders and subsidies that can go to competing operators, in collaboration, in consortium. We will see it when the race arrives but our goal is political and country-based, not corporate structures or corporate assets".
The message sounds like a cold shower, indeed freezing, for Tim down 5,77% at 0,42 euros (-5,49% savings) because, once the perspective of the single network has vanished, the former incumbent of the telecommunications companies will have to review the plans (and costs) of its strategies, as will Cdp, the new controlling shareholder of Open Fiber. Of course, as noted by Bestinver, “ “a co-investment project by Open Fiber and Tim would still be positive as it would allow it to save on investment costs”, but, adds the broker, “we believe that this solution is sub-optimal compared to the creation of a single network, which would reduce competition in the wholesale sector".
Francesco Starace, CEO of Enel, rejoices in his heart closed the season of Open Fiber with an implied capital gain of 1,8 billion: his prophecy (“the single network will make sense perhaps in 3 or 5 years” he declared to Il Sole 24 Ore) seems to have found confirmation in the moves of the Draghi government which reversed course with respect to Conte team.
At this point a picture emerges in which in the most populated areas of the country and therefore more profitable, users will have at least two if not three networks available. In other areas the service could almost inevitably be reduced to a single operator. The space expands for the arrival of new competitors, perhaps the big TV broadcasters (Sky, for example, but not only) which until now had not taken the business into consideration and stayed away from it.
With the stock exchange closed, however, Tim issued a clarification to the interpretations of the press, anticipating that "he will present a complaint to Consob to protect the company and its shareholders" after the sharp drop of the day. According to the telephone company "the interpretations (in the press) relating to the contents of the PNRR are completely inappropriate and devoid of objective evidence" and the relationship between the aforementioned Plan and possible aggregations of companies in the sector is not understood, considering that the Government has repeatedly he recalled that "these combinations are part of the market operations left exclusively to the will of the companies involved and their shareholders"
