TIM lobbies EU over broadband tender

The president of Telecom Italia, which offers fixed and mobile services in Italy under the TIM brand, says his company has complained to the EU over the conditions being imposed in a state broadband tender. Earlier this year the government body Infratel called for applications from telcos to deploy high speed internet infrastructure in underserved areas of six Italian regions – Abruzzo, Molise, Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, Tuscany and Veneto – as part of a wider nationwide network rollout plan. In July, however, TIM launched a legal appeal against the terms of the tender which it says are discriminatory as they would regulate pricing only for TIM due to its status as former monopoly operator. Giuseppe Recchi has now confirmed that TIM has complained to European authorities over the wording of tender documents. Il Sole 24 Ore quotes him as saying that the process is ‘discriminatory towards us by imposing rules only on us and not on our potential competitors. It’s like forcing us to run the hundred meters with one arm tied behind our back.’ Telecompaper suggests that the deadline for bids – currently set at 17 October – could now be postponed due to the legal action.