Broadband finally takes off. The number one of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Franco Bassanini, president of Metroweb since yesterday, the Milanese fiber company taken over by the F2i fund (owned by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti) has plans to use the company as the founding nucleus of a initiative involving the large operators to develop the new generation grid together. After the first informal contacts, today the project could be officially launched from the stage of the Confindustria conference in Capri.
For the occasion, in fact, Bassanini will discuss with Franco Bernabé, CEO of Telecom Italia, which already has an agreement with Metroweb, and with the general manager of Fastweb, a former sister company of Metroweb, Stefano Parisi. In the event of a favorable response from the two operators, "the plan to strengthen the broadband connection development plan in the country" will come to life, as the press release from F2i, the reference shareholder, already anticipated at the time of Bassanini's appointment of Metroweb, flanked by Banca Intesa and by A2A which rose to 19%, with the conversion of the bond. In short, after so many disagreements and quarrels, the time may finally have come to move from words to deeds: Metroweb (32 million in revenues, gross operating margin of 26, and million, has the numbers and experience to reduce the technological gap Italian.
The presence of a public partner, backed by the CDP, ensures that neutral ground that has so far been lacking to guarantee an agreement between the former incumbent and the private parties. Naturally, there is no shortage of knots to untie: the response of the other operators, starting with Vodafone. But, above all, coordination with the Ministry of Economic Development.
