Minister wants network separation

Italy’s communications minister says he is proposing a new law which will require Telecom Italia (TI) to separate its retail and networks operations. Paolo Gentiloni says the move would give the country’s telecoms watchdog Agcom more scope to regulate the fixed network, while TI’s retail division will be freed to introduce a wider range of wireline products without fear of being blocked on competition grounds. ‘We are thinking of introducing a norm which gives the communications authority more powers to regulate the network on the model of the UK’s Ofcom,’ he said in an interview with local newspaper Corriere della Sera. TI would retain ownership of the fixed line infrastructure but would be required to run it as a distinct unit, offering access to its own retail operations on the same terms as it would to alternative providers.