Poste Italiane and Wind Telecomunicazioni (Wind Italy) are discussing a possible joint venture involving Wind’s fixed line ‘Infostrada’ network, Poste Italiane CEO Massimo Sarmi told Bloomberg. The state-backed postal company is seeking to develop its data storage, cloud computing and broadband services, and now envisages using Infostrada’s network to boost its prospects. In addition, Sarmi said that his company may also be interested in the long-rumoured spinoff of Telecom Italia’s fixed line assets. ‘If a new company was created and dedicated to TI networks, we could become a partner of it, potentially acquiring a stake’, he said. Finally, Sarmi said that Poste Italiane is also in talks with Brazil’s Post Correios with a view to collaborating on the introduction of mobile phone services in Brazil.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, Poste Italiane entered Italy’s wireless market through its mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) unit PosteMobile in 2007. The reseller, which leases network capacity from Vodafone Italy, is the largest MVNO in the country, with more than three million subscribers.