It might seem like a detail. But it could also be a pebble that would fit into the scaffolding of that risk of telephony which is emerging. Wind Tre is setting its sights on the infrastructure part of Opnet, formerly Linkem, writes Il Sole24Ore. With this operation Wind Tre would strengthen itself, from the point of view of frequency allocation, for the development of 5G, thanks to the 60 MHz of spectrum available to Opnet in the 3.5-3.7 band. Wind Tre actually already has an agreement with Fastweb, dating back to 2019, for the joint development of the 5G network and one with Iliad always for the development of the network through the Zefiro company. But that of Opnet and the network part of the former Linkem could be evaluated as an opportunity.
Linkem, founded in 2001 by the entrepreneur Davide Rota, changed its name to Opnet in 2022 after the corporate spin-off of the retail branch and its merger by incorporation into Tiscali, the company founded by Renato Soru, an internet pioneer in Italy. It is precisely for the remaining part, which concerns the infrastructure, that the first discussions between Wind Tre and Opnet would have started at the end of 2023.
The strategic advantage for Wind Tre
For Wind Tre it would translate into a strategic advantage, because the Opnet frequencies would serve to flesh out the 20 MHz in the 3,6-3,8 GHz band and the 200 MHz in the "millimetric" 26,5-27,5 GHz band which represented the consideration for Wind Tre of the 516,7 million euro disbursement following the auction for 5G frequencies in October 2018 which brought in 6,55 billion euros to the State, writes the newspaper. That billion-dollar auction had a significant impact on the sector, with Tim and Vodafone leading the way in the ranking of disbursements: 2,4 billion euros each.
The former Linkem, for its part, has pushed its core business a lot with those frequencies: fixed wireless access - the "fixed" ultrabroadband technology but with the last mile covered with "millimetric" frequencies of 5G - is considered an alternative to the in Ftth fiber (fibre to the home) or Fttc (fibre with the last section in copper): it becomes unavoidable in areas where those solutions are not viable due to the impossibility of digging or excessive costs in disadvantaged or isolated areas.
The intricacies in telephony
The operation with Optec falls into a telephony context which sees entanglements, proposals and alliances.
Wind Tre itself is in negotiations with the Swedish fund Eqt for the unbundling of its company, and the closing of the operation, which in truth has many clouds hanging over it, is set for February 12th. But the plots don't end here. According to some rumors, the closest to a solution could be the match Vodafone-Iliad, which also includes the Swiss Swisscom, parent company of Fastweb. In all this comes the question of Zefiro, jv of WindTre and Iliad. Looking further ahead, it is also destined to be included in the risk Tim which had the approval of its board of directors for the "mother of all spin-off operations": that separation and sale of the network involving the former monopolist and KKR with the Mef expected to enter the game.
