Italian govt welcomes TIM network separation plan

Telecom Italia (TIM) finally revealed its plan to put its national fixed-line network into a separate company fully owned by the group during a meeting between CEO Amos Genish and industry minister Carlo Calenda. The voluntary separation is aimed at guaranteeing the network’s quality and equal access to all operators as well as easing relations with the Italian government and regulators. “We presented a hypothesis of legal separation of the network, with a dedicated company, and we expect to discuss it at the next board,” said Genish after the meeting, according to Reuters. The company’s next board meeting is scheduled for 06 March, with Genish also due to present a three-year business plan intended to position the group as a "pure digital player and not a telecoms operator."

Calenda welcomed the network spin-off project, describing it as an “epoch-changing” decision that was finally on the table “after talking for 20 years of the need to achieve separation of the network and manage it in a fair way for all operators. The industry minister has repeatedly said TIM should be split into two separate companies with one entity handling its commercial services and the other its landline network, valued at EUR 15 billion. He said the government would now evaluate the details of the “complex” operation with communications regulator Agcom but that he expected “very positive” feedback on the proposal.