The news went almost unnoticed: last week the road map was released according to which the member states of the European Community will have to start the plan to reassign the precious frequencies around 700 Mhz and therefore allow the development of innovative digital services: first of all 5G, and then the Internet of Things (IOT), smart cities, domotics, advanced robotics and everything else facing the technological future.
The steps are as follows: by next spring, the European Parliament and Council will have to formally approve the text of the agreement reached on 14 December, then by the end of June next year, each individual country will have to elaborate and specify the times and ways of own transition which will be fully operational by June 2020, subject to extensions which may be granted in particular cases. For the broadcasting world it quite simply means the beginning of the end of digital terrestrial and the launch of a new model of distribution of radio and TV signals with other devices and technologies. The antennas, as we see them on our homes today, could soon disappear to make room for other methods of reception. Everywhere, the demand for mobile data connection is growing steadily. The use of mobile devices, smartphones and tablets, for TV reception is a consolidated reality and soon all this will be possible through a 5G connection. Furthermore, according to what the European Commission has highlighted, in the next 3 years all mobile Internet traffic could grow eight times compared to the current one and it is precisely for this need that it is necessary to free up transmission bandwidth.
And it is precisely in this context that two dossiers intertwine that are at the center of the financial news in this period: the complex negotiation underway between the French of Vivendi and Mediaset and the possible pole of the towers. It is evident that these are different but contiguous and complementary matches. The first refers to the prospects for creating a large European multimedia hub capable of simultaneously managing audiovisual content and distribution platforms. The second, at least as far as our country is concerned, concerns an industrial policy logic that requires rationality and efficiency in the radio and television signal system. There seems to be no disagreement on this point, starting with the undersecretary of the TLCs, Giacomelli, who has clearly expressed his opinion on several occasions. In terms of Mediaset and its tower management company, Ei Towers, there seems to be no doubt: the pole "sooner or later will have to be done" while in terms of Rai Way everything is at a standstill when the takeover bid was formally rejected. The position is known: there are legal constraints in force that determine the company shares and as long as the cards on the table are still everything remains unchanged. There are, however, two significant innovations: the first refers to an opinion that circulates in institutional economic circles where there is talk of the reduction of the share of public presence in the corporate capital which, if it occurs, could allow the reopening of the games; the second novelty in a certain way could lead back to the previous one and refers to the new Board of Directors of Rai Way in office after the next Shareholders' Meeting, scheduled for the end of April, which could have the negotiation towards a possible merger with Ei as its relevant mandate Towers.
And here we return to considerations already written in this newspaper: across the Alps, for some time and in various sectors, they seem particularly active in financial shopping in our country. The large telecommunications market where all this takes place appears particularly rich and promising, see, for example, broadband. As in physics, even in finance there is no vacuum: wherever there is space, someone occupies it. Vincent Bollorè, CEO of Vivendi, in addition to the share deal, perhaps pointed to the advantageous repercussions that could exist on the towers front if the operation goes through. Telecom, through Inwit, is part of the game and Ei Tower itself, provided that everything can proceed (we are still awaiting the AGCOM verdict on dominant positions) could find new energy to return to office, perhaps encountering a more favorable legislative scenario in the event , on the Rai Way side, different conditions were created.
