That’s why Prysmian shakes Draghi (and warns Infratel)
Prysmian CEO attacks Chinese optical fiber for poor quality and security risks. And he invites the Draghi government to follow the French example in the tenders of the Infratel company (Invitalia-Mise). Here because
Valerio Battista, CEO of Prysmian, an Italian company that produces telecommunications cables, attacked the Chinese-made optical fiber because it was "of insufficient quality".
SECURITY RISKS?
In an article in the Corriere della Sera which reports his statements, Battista states that the Chinese fiber is "too sensitive to bending" and the transmitted signal could therefore "overflow" or be "picked up by a receptor".
COMPETITION ISSUES
In addition to the invoice, Battista disputes the price of the draft by the Chinese operators: less than four dollars per kilometer, wholesale. That's a lower price than Prysmian's cost of manufacturing cables.
Battista says that "it is no mystery" that Chinese companies that produce fiber optic cables "are subsidized by the Beijing government".
DUTIES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
The issue of Chinese trade practices has also been debated in the institutions of the European Union, which recently imposed duties of up to 44 percent on optical fiber from China for unfair trade practices ( dumping ). The move came after a complaint from EuropaCable, the association representing European telecommunications cable manufacturers and of which Prysmian is a member (Battista is vice president of the association).
China accounts for around 15 percent of the European fiber optic market.
THE QUESTION OF NOTICES
As the Corriere recalls, Italy has allocated 3.6 billion euros by 2026 for the development of ultra-broadband. Tenders will be handled by Infratel (Infrastructure and Telecommunications for Italy), the company of the Ministry of Economic Development, part of the Invitalia group, described as the "implementing body" of the government's plans on broadband and ultra-broadband.
The "Italy a 1 Giga" plan on ultra-broadband will provide for the drafting of millions of kilometers of fiber.
Battista argues that our country runs the risk of "outsourcing the entire infrastructure to the Chinese" and compromising the Prysmian plant in Battipaglia, which employs five hundred people and has a loss of 10 million euros per year. The Corriere also recalls how the site destined for the Italian market only 500 thousand kilometers of fiber out of the 8 million sold.
DO AS THE FRENCH
Prysmian's CEO invites the Italian authorities to "copy the French model". In fact, in France, the body that deals with telecommunications has established precise requirements on the optical fiber to be used in the national network: specifically, it has chosen quality A2, which does not bend and is therefore safer from raid attempts.
A2 is the type of fiber also produced by Prysmian.
About ten days ago Battista had already declared – that time in Il Sole 24 Ore – that Italy and Europe must understand "that the passion for technology cannot be left in the hands of foreign subjects".
THE MESSAGE TO THE DRAGHI GOVERNMENT
In Sole 24 Ore Battista he explained that Prysmian had planned investments in France, but had not done the same in Italy, due to the different regulatory framework. To Corriere della Sera he reiterated the message, saying that "we do not feel like investing in the country without being sure that these are resources that do not produce further losses".
His invitation to replicate the French approach on A2 quality fiber is in particular to the Ministry of Economic Development of Giancarlo Giorgetti (sensitive to the theme of the Chinese presence in strategic sectors ) and to that of Vittorio Colao for technological innovation.
Battista specifies that his reasoning is not aimed at giving preference to Italian products, but at "ensuring conditions to be able to compete with an entire industrial chain".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/prysmian-battista-fibra-ottica-draghi-infratel/ on Tue, 30 Nov 2021 08:15:37 +0000.