The theme of the possible birth of a pole of the transmission towers of radio and television signals, periodically, returns to the news and FIRSTonline, which has been following this topic carefully for some time. Now, with the Pnrr almost ready to be delivered to Brussels, we could find ourselves facing a new phase that makes this matter highly topical. There are many billions of investments in digitization, innovation and technological competitiveness at stake and network infrastructures such as towers, if they were adequately considered, could play a major role.
It is a theme that can be read through various lines: the first is of a strictly financial nature M&A operations between companies interested in strengthening their presence in the business. The second refers to system efficiency and rationality criteria, of convenience and opportunity for the main subject, the country, to equip itself with a single network for the broadcasting of radio and television signals. Finally, the third key to understanding concerns the development of technological systems internal to the entire telecommunications perimeter. In particular, the steps that link these three areas are the advent of 5G and the possible creation of a single network for the BUL.
The government's objective is to provide the country with a stable, fast and equally distributed Internet connection system throughout the country. As Minister Vittorio Colao recently declared, it is urgent to act quickly, to guarantee technological neutrality between the network and 5G and to ensure market balance. Furthermore, all of this is linked to the imminent launch of the most delicate phase of frequency refarming, already scheduled for next September.
Here then is that in this framework, the "pole of the towers" theme may no longer be just a subject of financial alchemy between subjects who operate in this specific market in various capacities. It is potentially a question of setting up a subject capable of supporting the development of a part of the "single company" which would not only be based on the cable but also on the diffusion through the FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) and the network of the towers could be a strategic hub for this drawing. It's not so much about the so-called "high-altitude towers", as they won't be on those pylons that will travel the 5G signals, but more about a grid of small towers scattered throughout the country can supply ultra-fast connectivity at approximately 20 Gb/s, with very low latency (less than a millisecond) and very high access density per square kilometer (from the current 100 of 4G to over a billion).
All this will not only have an impact on the development of industrial systems, on the efficiency of the Public Administration, on schools, on health services and so on, but will also have a profound effect on the sectors of production and diffusion of audiovisual contents. And it is at this point that we enter the increasingly complex relationship between the two main subjects operating in Italy: Rai e Mediaset.
The former holds the frequency concession and controls, with approximately 64%, Rai Way the company that manages and maintains the distribution network of the same. The second however, after the delisting of recent years, comes into play with what remains of Hey Towers, the company that owns over 2.300 towers, a network for the transmission of mobile telephony services (about 1.700 towers) and a fiber optic backbone of over 6 kilometres. Both companies could find a ratio in the possible process merging their structures, at least as long as digital terrestrial will remain the prevailing form of broadcasting of radio and television signals (but it is known that another switch off could take place by 2030). However, it is a question of understanding where they can find mutual conveniences.
In the past few days, what has been written about it on has aroused some curiosity Republic by Sara Bennewitz: "...many are ready to bet that, once the new Rai top management is in place, it will be approved a law that allows public TV to fall below 51% of Rai Way”. We have tried to find out more about this alleged "law" and, unofficially, it seems that the Mise does not know anything about it and refer, for competence, to the Mef.
But why should Rai sell something of its assets? In exchange for what? What could be its advantage from an operation which, on the contrary, seems to benefit, at least from a financial point of view, mainly its direct competitor? In the same article we read in fact that, with this operation, “Cologno would realize a large capital gain”, with which to carry forward its financial and operational development plans in Italy and in Europe, where it has been looking for space for some time.
For Viale Mazzini, on the other hand, the matter is much more complicated and the figure of the advantages compared to that of the losses is not at all clear. It's all about understanding what stakes everyone puts on the table in this operation and who decides the rules of engagement. Topics that no one, at the moment, is able to address. More or less, we are at the starting point, when in April 2018 in this newspaper we wrote "Rai Way count ok but tower pole in mists” and the article read a part of the Report on the financial statements presented to the shareholders: “The loss of ownership of the Frequencies by Broadcaster customers, in whole or in part, and/or the modification of the Frequencies assigned to the Broadcasters, also following of the envisaged process of reassignment of the rights to use the frequencies in the 694-790 MHz band, could result in a loss of customers for the Company or in the redefinition of the scope of services lent to customers, with negative effects on its revenues, as well as on its economic, equity and financial situation".
In Viale Mazzini, as one of our sources claims, for now, all this is like smoke in the eyes and, indeed, brings to mind ghosts of the past, when, directly and indirectly, maneuvers were carried out which certainly did not benefit the Service Public.
However, one element is clear: the pole of the towers, Once again, will have to wait for better times to be implemented and may not be those determined by the next change of Rai's top management, assuming that this can take place according to the scheduled schedule (between June and July). After that, our source always claims, we will meet again in September, when the phase of the transition to DVB-T2 will begin. Too late. The Draghi government, for now, has other priorities.
