TIM has received the results of the European Commission Competition authority regarding the closure of the FiberCop project.
At the end of the jurisdictional consultation, started by TIM last 7 September, the European Commission decided that the operation – which consists of transferring TIM’s secondary network to FiberCop and the simultaneous entry of KKR (37.5%) and Fastweb (4.5%) – cannot be considered a concentration under EU legislation and therefore does not need to be notified under the European Merger Regulation.
Important step
This is an important step towards the launch of FiberCop’s operations, which is confirmed for the first quarter of 2021, as already disclosed to the market.
FiberCop will make a significant contribution to the infrastructuring and digitisation of the country, with a coverage target, by 2025, of 76% of property units in the grey and black areas, corresponding to coverage of 56% of the total technical property units.
Finally, following news that Italian energy firm Enel is poised to sell a strategic stake in Open Fiber to Macquarie, the company has declared its intention to build wholesale fibre networks in markets outside of Italy.
Enel looks beyond Italy
At a virtual event for the company’s Capital Markets Day, Enel chief executive Francesco Starace told investors: “We will replicate this model in other parts of the world where we see similar or parallel situations”.
While target markets have not been divulged, the group has a strong presence in Latin America, and underscored its interest in the region in June 2018 when it acquired a 21% stake in Latin American wholesale fibre operator Ufinet.
Altogether, Enel has a presence in more than 30 countries worldwide, distributing electricity via 2.2 million kilometres of power lines in selected countries.