Rivals call for network separation

Competitors to Telecom Italia in Italy have joined forces to call for the separation of the incumbent’s networks and retail businesses. Telecompaper reports that Vodafone Italia, FastWeb, Wind, Tiscali, BT, Tele2, Welcome Italia and Eutelia have sent a joint document to the Communications Authority Agcom in which they underline the need for network separation to correct market asymmetries and increase competition. They say that Telecom Italia still controls around 95% of the local access market, 70% of the broadband market and 67% of national telephony services in the retail sector.