Enel is hungry for broadband and is considering to enter the plan for the development of the ultra-fast network in Italy by making its electricity distribution infrastructure available. The rumors have been circulating for a few days and Reuters resumes the news adding new details.
Enel's interest is bridging the digital divide which effectively hinders the digital development of its distribution network: a fundamental step for the group that will move to Italy approximately 2 billion of its four-year investment plan for growth (6,5 billion in all), precisely for the expansion and digitization of the network. In sight is the challenge posed by distributed generation but also the world ofinnovative services to customers, with the gradual replacement of 32 million electronic counters. Without a proper fiber network, all of this becomes much more difficult if not impossible, especially in some areas. To prevent the electrical divide from adding to the digital divide, the group led by Francesco Starace is therefore considering entering the game on the web and should present its plan to the Communications Authority (Agcom) tomorrow. Indeed, Enel could supply the lines and cabinets of its distribution network (450.000), in addition to the technological know-how, for the laying of the fiber.
“Enel could make its infrastructure available to speed up the digitization process,” one of the sources told Reuters, asking not to be quoted because no decision has yet been made. Enel's interest is not new, so much so that in 2014 it signed an agreement with Telecom for precisely the same reasons. Precisely that agreement, however, is slow or in any case does not guarantee an adequate infrastructure for the acceleration that Starace has decided to give to digital development. Hence, therefore, the need to take a step forward.
Enel, 30% owned by the Treasury, did not comment on the rumors. His taking the field could open, in perspective, scenarios of partnership also with Metroweb, the fiber company owned by CDP through the Strategic Fund and F2i.
Right on the fate of Metroweb, as a vehicle for the creation of the national fiber network, negotiations have been open for some time. For now, Telecom Italia is not giving in on the request to control 51% of the company in the event of its entry into the game on the new network. However, this condition is not accepted by Vodafone and Wind who each presented an expression of interest and ask, as an indispensable condition, that the partners involved in the project are on an equal footing.
The government approved the guidelines contained in the Broadband Strategy with the Council of Ministers on 3 March.
The intervention provides for 6,2 billion in public investments which should be accompanied by the same number of private ones.
The implementation of the plan is hampered by complex regulations and governance problems so much so that after months of negotiations there is still no agreement between the government and Telecom Italia, owner of the main telephone network, on how to proceed. There is a risk that Telecom and Metroweb (a fiber optic network controlled by F2i and by the Italian strategic fund controlled by CDP) will build two separate networks, with a doubling of costs and a slowdown in the project.
