Telecom Italy continues to boast and, according to a source familiar with the matter, quoted by Reuters, has sent the F2i fund an expression of interest for its participation in Metroweb, but still without price indications. The aim is to have an initial feedback from the fund. And the political tussle is already reopening with interventions by the Pd and Lega parliamentarians.
Then it warms up the game on the future of the ultrabroadband network on which the government intends to play a 7 billion public fund card to promote 30-100 Megabit connections and reach populations outside the most commercially interesting centres. In the big cities, however, the president of Telecom Giuseppe Recchi confirmed just yesterday the company's willingness to continue with the 3 billion a year plan (for fiber and 4G mobile connections) and estimated that public intervention will be sufficient to reach European standards, overcoming the delay accumulated by Italy.
Metroweb, which owns the largest FTTH (Fiber to the home, i.e. up to the building) fiber optic network in Europe with a penetration of 35% in Milan and Lombardy, is therefore confirmed as a strategic link in the repositioning of operators on the ultrabroadband. A joint that has not escaped Vodafone. the CEO, Vittorio Colao, made it known from London that the group he leads would also "look" at Metroweb if it were put up for sale by the F2i infrastructure fund, underlining that it would only carry out a deal under the right conditions. Basically at market prices and not overloaded by the dispute with Telecom. The British group is therefore ready to take the field in the event of a possible tender for the acquisition of the company and has already expressed its intentions to F2i.
The president of Cassa Derpositi e Prestiti (Cdp), Franco Bassanini, assured a little while ago that we are heading towards a tender. "Cdp is a long-term investor and therefore has no interest in selling its share," he said on the sidelines of a conference in Rome. "F2i has a different approach, it's a fund, it doesn't have a long-term vision and therefore may reasonably be interested in selling its stake", he added. "Don't be under any illusions, there will be a competition, a race offers will have to be presented,” Bassanini said. “But it's not like you can contest the possible outcome by saying that you create a monopoly problem”. Metroweb is 87,7% controlled by Metroweb Italia, in turn 53,8% owned by F2i, of which CDP holds 16,5%, and 46,2% by Fondo Strategico Italiano, controlled by Cash 80% and by the Bank of Italy for the remaining 20%. 10,6% of Metroweb is in the hands of Fastweb, the Swisscom group, the remainder being held by managers. In other words, CDP is interested in being a shareholder in an infrastructure fund which is typically a long-term business. It is much less so to become a shareholder in a telecommunications company as he has already said several times.
However, the whole match is already under the spotlight of theAntitrust and AGCOM in fear that Metroweb's transfer to Telecom could lead to excessive market concentration in the hands of the dominant operator with repercussions on competition in the nascent ultra-fast fiber market. So far, none of those directly involved in the operation has wanted to release official comments on the matter.
In the meantime, the political tussle is reopening over the whole affair. The Democratic Party lines up a senator (Stefano Esposito) and a deputy (Cristina Bargero) against an operation judged "dangerous for competition". Both ask for the intervention of Consob and Antitrust. The Northern League limits itself to expressing concern and "immediately demands clarity and information".
