Rain of sales on Telecom Italia which, at 12.10, lost 2,45% to 1,034 euros after the advances published by Repubblica on the government's plan for ultra-broadband which would entrust Enel with the direction of the operation.
According to the newspaper, by the end of the month the Renzi government will determine the incentives to build the new network infrastructure (6,5 billion over five years) and would have identified Enel as the best candidate after the contacts with Telecom and Metroweb conducted in recent months did not have given satisfactory results. Enel, again according to the article, has already given its willingness to commit itself to the project with the aim of building the infrastructure in 3 years.
The Stock Exchange questions itself and therefore draws its conclusions. The negotiations to create, through Metroweb with Cassa depositi and all telephone operators on an equal basis, the new ultra-fast fiber network to meet and anticipate the objectives of the European digital agenda (100 Mega by 2020), are at a standstill. Telecom does not give up on the need to have control over the new infrastructure. Just last Friday, in presenting the quarterly report to analysts and investors, the CEO of Telecom Marco Patuano had confirmed that the project was archived and that Telecom would go it alone: “It's the simple things that work. We are the industrial actor of the country which should be the guide”. So on with Telecom's network investment plan and spotlight on the IPO (and listing) of Inwitt, the company to which Telecom has contributed its towers.
Faced with the stalemate, the government does not intend to stand idly by, just as it is not standing still Enel which on the stock exchange is moving in line with the Ftse Mib. “Ultra-broadband is a strategic objective” the Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, recently underlined in a tweet, adding that “it is not up to the Government to make industrial plans. But we will bring the future soon and everywhere”.
The UltraBroadband is a strategic objective. It is not up to the Government to make industrial plans. But we will bring the future soon and everywhere #the right time
- Matteo Renzi (@matteorenzi) May 11, 2015
Even with all the necessary precautions, in the face of demanding investments and programs on which technical-financial checks are underway, the fact remains that Enel is engaged in an important investment plan for the digitization of the distribution network. Plans that also include the replacement of current electronic meters with more advanced and second generation devices. Enel is therefore hungry for broadband and ultra-broadband and has no intention of competing with telecommunications operators. For this reason, the CEO Francesco Starace has already sent Agcom (the Communications Authority) its own document in which he says he is willing to use the widespread and branched electricity distribution infrastructure even in areas of the country where there is no 'it is commercial convenience to invest in fiber - to lay along the hundreds of kilometers of electric cables (and passing through 450.000 switchboards) also those in optical fiber. Enel is 25% controlled by the Treasury and this, moreover, would give the government the certainty of securing a strategic asset for the country. It goes without saying that a project like this effectively puts Telecom against the wall as it ends up decreeing the death of the copper network of which Telecom Italia is the sole owner.
Analysts have already summed up: according to Akros, the new project would have "negative implications for Telecom which is continuously put under pressure by the government for its broadband strategy in terms of size, timing, technology and partnerships".
"Having two plans, one from the government and one from the incumbent Telecom (which will invest many resources in next-generation networks but which also clearly needs to protect the value of its copper network) would not make sense", writes Mediobanca Securities according to which all the players in the sector should be involved in the development of ultra-broadband perhaps through a mixed solution between fiber-to-the-home and fiber-to-the-cabinet. Which, however, has so far not been able to do precisely because of the opposition of Telecom Italia.
