The future of digital Italy passes through Metroweb. Born when no one believed in it yet and the ultrabroadband was far from the objectives of the telecommunications companies, the Milanese company controlled by Cassa Depositi has become a jewel that is coveted by many: by Telecom Italia which thus thinks it can secure the its dominant position on the network (today its market share in broadband is 48,8%); and to Vodafone which, again according to the latest survey by the Communications Authority (Agcom), is pressing it with a much smaller share (9,5%) but with a solid and aggressive investment program which makes it formidable in the eyes of the 'former monopolist.
It is no coincidence that Metroweb has been at the center of all the plans that have followed one another over time for the creation of a single innovative national infrastructure capable of coping with the incessant hunger for bits of the new telecommunications services. All of this was intertwined with the hypothesis of unbundling the Telecom network into copper, from the Rovati plan in 2007 to the most recent project of the Letta government which envisaged the re-publicisation of the Telecom infrastructure as an "atomic bomb", i.e. as an ultima ratio, if the investments promised by the company had not made progress.
And now Metroweb and the new generation network are being talked about again just as the group of experts appointed by Matteo Renzi is meeting at Palazzo Chigi to put the final touches on the "Renaissance 2.0" plan. The meetings follow one another, even in these hours, and everything revolves around the topic of funding. In fact, Rome intends to present in Brussels by the end of the month a strategy for approaching the objectives of the 2020 Digital Agenda, on which Italy is blatantly late, which will allow it to acquire that part of the funds made available by the 300 billion package for promised investments by Jean-Claude Junker.
So why so much interest in Metroweb? Because it owns the largest metropolitan fiber optic network in Europe with approximately 375.000 km of fiber installed. The company has its strong point in Milan where, together with Bologna, the 300 Mega fiber is ready. Next stop Turin, to then extend the super-fast network to 30 of the major Italian cities. There is more fiber in Milan than in Stockholm and, above all, it reaches homes and offices with FTTH (Fiber to the home) technology which is by far the fastest but also the most expensive. Fastweb and Telecom Italia have preferred the FTTC (Fiber to the cabinet) model which brings the fiber closer to the house but relies on the copper pair for the final connection: the longer it is, the slower the speed. Vodafone has also made the same choice, but in Milan and Bologna it relies on Metroweb, as well as Wind, for the 300 Mb offer.
It is therefore clear that, with these premises, no discussion of the new generation network in Italy can be made without involving Metroweb. It was Aem (now A2A) in 97 who understood that the sector promised interesting developments and it was Silvio Scaglia's eBiscom, a great manager unjustly overwhelmed by judicial inquiries which later turned out to be unfounded, who pushed the business as long as he was a shareholder. The definitive leap was made with the entry of Cassa Depositi and F2i in June 2011. Today the safe chaired by Franco Bassanini controls 46,2% of the capital through the Italian strategic fund (FSI, 80% CDP) while 53,8 .2% is in the hands of F16,5i, the infrastructure fund of which CDP holds XNUMX%.
At this point, there are more than one possible scenarios in the endless risk on the TLC network and they are all open. On the one hand, the sale of Metroweb to Telecom runs the risk of running into the Antitrust veto since, as many fear, it would end up significantly reducing the margins of competition in an innovative and strategic sector. On the other hand, both Cdp and F2i could have an interest in enhancing their shareholding by putting Telecom and Vodafone out to tender and then selling and exiting, repaying themselves for the investments made and forfeiting a reasonable capital gain for the benefit of postal savers.
The rumors say that Renato Ravanelli, who has recently arrived at the helm of F2i, however, does not consider the sale of Metroweb as a priority. Also because a key pawn is still missing on the chessboard: that of the government. Palazzo Chigi looks at the acceleration of the investment plans launched so far by operators with interest but also in a critical key: the abundance of plans is in fact concentrated entirely on the cities themselves. Greater sharing could lead to broader levels of coverage. And if it were a single company, owned by the state, to own the infrastructure, everything would speed up. But as it turns out, it's easier said than done. And so for now the efforts of the pool led by Paolo Coppola are concentrated on how to find resources: at least 6 billion in public funds to guarantee 30 Megaband for everyone and 100 Mega for 80% of the population. A revolution, if it happens.
