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Theses and counter-theses by Tim, Open Fiber and Vodafone at the Brothers of Italy conference on telecommunications networks

Theses and counter-theses by Tim, Open Fiber and Vodafone at the Brothers of Italy conference on telecommunications networks

Who was there and what was said at the webinar “The new networks for the Italian industry and for consumers” organized by Fratelli d'Italia.

“The central theme is digitization. If we are good in the next few years we will have a great acceleration in the modernization of the PA and bureaucracy ”. These are the words of Giorgia Meloni at the webinar “ The new networks for the Italian industry and for consumers ” organized by Fratelli d'Italia . The meeting was attended, among others, by Vittorio Colao, Minister for Digital Transition, Roberto Cingolani, Minister for Ecological Transition, Franco Bassanini, President of Open Fiber, Aldo Bisio, CEO of Vodafone Italia, Luigi Gubitosi, CEO of Tim , Maximo Ibarra, CEO of Sky Italia, Franco Gabrielli, undersecretary to the Prime Minister with responsibility for Services and Security, and Adolfo Urso, senator and deputy president of Copasir.

Giorgia Meloni: "Single publicly owned fiber network"

“Fratelli d'Italia is a governing party, ready to govern this nation – said Giorgia Meloni , president of Fratelli d'Italia -. We have always wondered about strategic issues. It is that of protecting the data of our citizens ”. Giorgia Meloni, who spoke at the end of the conference, made it clear what her party's approach is to the issue, also central to the PNRR , of digitization, TLC and the protection of citizens' data. “The single fiber network must be publicly owned, not vertically integrated, dividing ownership of the network from the sale of the service. For once we are the pro-Europeans, given that this is what the European Union envisages – added the leader of the Brothers of Italy – Commissioner Vestager was also very clear from this point of view. This is what happens in European nations. It is an element for which a serious government cannot turn the other way, and I really hope in Mario Draghi ”.

Adolfo Urso: "Data is the energy of the future"

Even the vice president of Copasir, Adolfo Urso , senator of the party chaired by Meloni, suggests a more concrete public engagement in the management of the network economy. “If there is so much attention on the part of so many foreign subjects towards us, it is because we as Italy are central, especially in the network. In the field of the digital economy and green energy we can challenge the world – said Urso -. So we need to go back to reconstituting a company like the old Telecom , a publicly controlled company that builds broadband networks. And this we can do with a strategic state that indicates the country's strategy. This is the field of the future. Italy can become the data hub in the world and their protection is crucial for the future. Data is the energy of the future ”. The president of Fare Futuro, on the subject of programmatic investments, recalled that " Interoute was sold unexpectedly, if we re-appropriated it we could become the European backbone" and underlined the important role of Sparkle , the cable company of the Tim group "which has changed one year ".

Federico Mollicone (FdI) "Digital sovereignty is the key point for the coming years"

According to the latest Open Fiber report, only 25% of total housing units and less than 25% of total municipalities have adequate digital coverage, fiber coverage at home represents only 17% of total coverage. This was underlined by Federico Mollicone, the Innovation Manager of Fratelli d'Italia. “Italy and Europe have a ten-year delay compared to the digital“ superpowers ”- said Mollicone -. Artificial intelligence, the right to be connected and other digital rights, the ethics of algorithms and their development process, support for innovative companies, the need for an ever closer connection between research and business, a more incisive tax on Internet services: Digital Sovereignty is the key point for the years to come ”.

Aldo Bisio (Vodafone): "You don't need a single network but a single direction"

If the opinions of politicians converge on a greater weight of the State in the management of TLC, the voices of the company ask the State to direct the direction of the digital transition. "Rather than a single network, we must speak of a network with a single architecture and management, we must free up competition with small to medium-sized batches, giving the possibility of investing even to smaller operators, making the system acquire much more resilience". This is said by the CEO of Vodafone Aldo Bisio . “The networks – added the head of Vodafone Italy – must be aimed at giving a service to the community and making our society prosper. We need adequate skills, multiply the specialists by 2 and a half times, we must have 100 percent of public services or online medical data ”. The strategy is to adopt the “ Very High Capacity Network concept” adopted by Europe according to the principle of technological neutrality, which leaves it to the market to optimize the most appropriate mix of technologies to address the needs of citizens and businesses. The state can spend less and citizens can have coverage much faster ”.

Franco Bassanini (Open Fiber): "Single Network exposes to the risk of monopoly"

Even more clear is the comment of the president of Open Fiber, Franco Bassanini on the proposal for a single national network. "My personal belief is that a Single Network could be useful to the country but not if it were a return to the vertically integrated monopoly , both for the risk of an intervention by the Italian and European authorities, and for the risk of returning to the logic of those who have an interest in diluting the migration from copper to fiber over time to protect one of their corporate assets – says Bassanini – or move towards a single network that is not vertically integrated, neutral and capable of migrating from old generation networks to those new generation or it is necessary to find tools and incentives to accelerate the coverage of the country by various competitors ". Italy suffers serious delays, one of which is not having considered telecommunications strategic and having allowed total privatization. "While the energy was considered strategic and was made while retaining the control of the State in Eni and Enel , in the case of the telecommunications it was believed that they were not as strategic and the privatization was total – added Bassanini -. Four years ago when Open Fiber was born in digital connectivity, we were in the penultimate place in Europe ”.

Luigi Gubitosi (Tim): "Co-investment is the opposite of monopoly"

Less worried about the risk of monopoly is Tim's head of company, Luigi Gubitos i. “There is talk of a return to monopoly, while the co-investment model is the opposite of monopoly – he said, responding indirectly to Bassanini -. Small is not nice in this sector, the scale of the Ott, our competitors, is impressive, we risk making 10 small Indians of which none are left. The co-investment, on the other hand, goes in the direction of the common interest and does not reduce competition. There is no goal to reach, it is a continuous work in progress towards the next technological evolution. And this is another reason why small is not beautiful ”. On the issue of the development of networks, Gubitosi once again challenges the definition of "future-proof" technologies: "it is an oxymoron because technologies represent the present, a present that becomes obsolete faster and faster as soon as technological evolution immediately makes its way later and sometimes even earlier ". “This is the reason why we have all the existing technologies and we work on all the future ones repeats Gubitosi – There is no goal to reach, it is a continuous work in progress towards the next technological evolution. And this is another reason why small is not beautiful ”. He too agrees that the debate on the web is now an old debate, “the Cloud is the new frontier” he repeats. Gubitosi insists on transparency: "The network must be built and built guaranteeing the principles of economy, efficiency and self-sufficiency as well as speed and strict compliance with the commitments made in terms of performance characteristics, capillarity, methods of execution and timing". And he concludes by relaunching the 'challenge' on the numbers of coverage: "we cannot find ourselves in the numbers of Open Fiber and this creates a lot of confusion on the market, it is advisable to take an examination, and understand how our numbers are comparable with those of Open Fiber ". Gubitosi proposes to Bassanini that he find an arbitrator to whom to submit the data on the coverage "and whoever is wrong make a donation to Sant'Egidio or to another lay foundation".

Meloni: "Involving Parliament in the strategic chapters of the PNRR"

The digital revolution is one of the central themes of the PNRR. “On the PNRR there is a question of method – said Giorgia Meloni -. We have voted in parliament for a plan which, however, is Conte's and is not what will go to Europe ”. The leader of Fd'I asks to parliamentarise the discussion on the new document drawn up by the Draghi government . “Mario Draghi has arrived – he added – to rewrite a Recovery and I don't think he wants to send a document made by Conte to Europe. Parliament must be involved in the strategic chapters ”.

Recovery: Cingolani, bureaucratic the biggest difficulties

The Minister of Ecological Transition Roberto Cingolan i spoke about the PNRR and the profound transformations that are required of Italy. “We have to manage 10 – 15 years for the ecological transition. Then the young people will take the baton, who will be better than us – he said during his speech – I have three objectives: to present a good Recovery Plan to the European Union by the end of the month; one month after this, to present the new structure of the Mite, very international and with technical capabilities; leave to my successors a package of accelerating rules to realize the promises of the Recovery Plan as soon as possible ”. The minister does not hide the difficulties and pockets of resistance he is encountering in the course of his work. “The biggest difficulties I encounter in my work are the bureaucratic and administrative ones. The efficiency in grounding the planned works is the biggest problem – added the minister -. If the concept prevails that time does not matter, we will not do the works. But it won't be just an administrative delay: it will contribute to global catastrophes. The rising of the seas does not wait for the bureaucracy ”.


This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/tesi-e-controtesi-di-tim-open-fiber-e-vodafone-al-convegno-di-fratelli-ditalia-reti-tlc/ on Thu, 08 Apr 2021 14:30:55 +0000.