Telecom Italy will proceed to network unbundling in a separate company, but will not sell any share of the infrastructure, not even through a listing on the stock exchange. According to financial sources quoted by the newspaper La Repubblica, this would be the intention of Tim's CEO, Amos Genish, supported on this point also by the company's president, Fulvio Conti, after a survey with Italian institutions. The indiscretion emerged yesterday at the end of a nine-hour board meeting during which the plan announced in March was reviewed to take stock of the company's future.
As far as the 'gross debt of Telecom, currently at 30 billion, will continue to have a "junk" rating because the gross operating margin does not rise while debts risk rising. For Genish, the improvement in the rating to Bbb- was the prerequisite both for returning to the dividend and for re-proposing a plan to convert RNC shares into ordinary shares.
The debt weighs on the investments both in Italy (the 5G auction could cost Tim up to 1,8 billion, which had not been budgeted in the plan) and abroad (particularly on Nextel's Brazilian broadband).
Also on resignations Tim proceeds slowly. The company has commissioned some investment banks to find possible buyers for Sparkle, the subsidiary that manages thousands of kilometers of submarine cables and for this reason is considered strategic by the Italian state and is under the "Golden Power" regime. For the first time in years, Sparkle reports a decline in margins and revenues.
For Persidera, the digital multiplex company controlled 70% by Telecom and 30% by Gedi, two offers would arrive: one from the US ISquare fund and one from Rai Way, which had come forward together with F2i in the spring.
Finally, on Monday the Board approved the introduction of a governance reform that limits proxies to Genish on the selection of the top management of the subsidiaries: in the future, the candidatures will be examined in advance by the nomination and remuneration committee.
News also comes from overseas, where SAEx International Ltd, a Mauritian company headquartered in Mauritius, has announced its intention to expand its coverage to the east coast of the United States through Sparkle's pan-American network.
