Italy court suspends fine on Telecom Italia over Vivendi control

An Italian court has suspended a 74.3 million euro ($88 million) fine imposed on Telecom Italia for failing to notify the government its main shareholder Vivendi had effective control.

The court said in its ruling it had set the date of July 4 for a hearing on the reasons for its decision.

Last September Italy began to look into the failure by Vivendi to communicate to the prime minister’s office that it had de facto control over the former state phone monopoly.

Vivendi, which is TIM’s biggest shareholder with a 24 percent stake, has repeatedly denied controlling Italy’s biggest phone group.