Telecom Italia and Open Fiber crank up war of words over single network

MILAN: A war of words between Telecom Italia (TIM) and Open Fiber over the creation of a single broadband network in Italy escalated on Tuesday as Telecom Italia called its smaller rival’s business model a “failure”.

TIM has been in talks for months over a merger of its fibre network assets with those of Open Fiber, controlled by utility Enel and state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP).

But differences over issues including governance and regulation have thwarted efforts to clinch a deal.

Replying to questions from investors ahead of a shareholder meeting this week, TIM said that any single broadband network should be controlled by a vertically integrated player since wholesale-only models had been a failure wherever they had been tried.