Italy’s alternative operators have criticised Telecom Italia’s plan for opening up its networks for equal access. The chief executives of alternative operators Vodafone, Wind, Fastweb, Tiscali, BT Italia, Tele2, Colt Italia and Welcome Italia have issued a joint statement which says they are not satisfied with the former monopoly’s proposal of creating a separate unit under the Telecom Italia umbrella to manage its network operations. Competitors say the plan does not ‘meet the need for the effective application of the principle of equal treatment and non-discrimination, achievable only through functional separation’, Dow Jones reports. The operators say they will make their own proposals to telecoms regulator Agcom which will help ‘create a truly competitive market’.
Meanwhile, Telecom Italia CEO Franco Bernabe has ruled out the possibility of a takeover by Telefonica of Spain. The Spanish firm is a leading shareholder in Telecom Italia through its stake in the Telco consortium but Bernabe says there are no plans for it to take a larger role in the running of its Italian counterpart.