Tim, what the unions say on the net, Kkr, Vivendi and Infratel
Tim's perspectives seen by the unions.
The unions say their no to the hypothesis of a spin-off of Tim. In a very heartfelt communiqué, the tlc unions – Slc Cgil, Fistel Cisl and Uilcom Uil – put pen to paper their opposition to any hypothesis of dismemberment of the TIM telephone company . “The press releases of these hours and the corporate service orders published in these hours do not bode well. A solution that we would find absolutely against, or something that resembles the dismemberment of Tim as we have known him up to now, is emerging, happy to be proved wrong – reads the note -. An insane solution, in total contradiction with what happened in Europe ".
The hypothesis of Tim's spin-off
On the plate there would be the hypothesis of a separation between Tim's commercial sector and the infrastructural part, the real asset of the company. "If you spin off Tim network, you let the business side and completely alone services – tells Startmag Vito Vitale, secretary Fistel-Cisl -. Instead Tim was born by sharing network, infrastructure and services. Without the network we would not have a commercial structure capable of self-sustaining ”.
Vivendi's step backwards and the reactions of the unions in Tim
Vivendi, with 23.8% of the capital , is the first shareholder of the group chaired by Salvatore Rossi and now led by the general manager Pietro Labriola . In recent days, as reported by Repubblica , a spokesman for the French group announced the giant's desire to take a step back from the network infrastructure, Tim's main asset, considered strategic by the government. Thus, if Tim decided to carry out a plan to separate services from the infrastructure, Vivendi would not only not oppose it, but would be ready to participate in the minority, a prospect it had so far shown against. “ We do not like Vivendi's plan because they are not very sincere, they will not give a long-term industrial plan, they are a bit improvised. The Tlc sector can be a lever that Vivendi will use to enter other sectors of the Italian market , it can be a trading ground because this sector, especially Tim, is a national champion that must not be destroyed for market opportunities. If someone wants to enter the media and communication system, he can enter directly into those companies without using a company like Tim as a bargaining chip ".
More than 70,000 jobs at risk
The unions in their communiqué complain about a certain opacity of the operations that could damage the employment perimeter. “ We have about 38 thousand workers within Tim and another 41 thousand units correspond to the related industries – adds the secretary of Fistel-Cisl -. So the employment problems are both in Tim and in the network, call center and IT procurement sector ”.
The question of "partial tenders"
In their note, the unions say they are concerned about the future of a strategic sector for our country. "The nodes that we have been denouncing for years are evidently coming to a head – reads the note – to talk about a hypothetical company with public control of the network and in the meantime, 'governmentally' we proceed with partial tenders with which money and infrastructures are given away to individuals without even having the guarantee of achieving the technological and social and economic well-being objectives of the country ". The partial calls to which the press release refers are those of the “ Piano Italia 1 giga ” , that is the plan to bring the ultra-fast band to the whole national territory, in compliance with the principle of universality. The call provides for gap founding , i.e. the resulting company winning the contract becomes the owner of the network and no longer just a concessionaire as before. However, there is no economic advantage for private operators to invest in the whole territory. In those areas identified as not very profitable, the State intervenes with the 1 Giga Plan, which can be financed with funds from the PNRR, but the networks will remain the property of the operator who won the tender. “We look at the market and not efficiency – continues the secretary of Fistel-Cisl -. When you give money to small businesses all you need to do is fund an economic counterpart that does not have the objective of providing the country with a digital network capable of supporting everything that has to go digital. It is like giving money and not building a solid apparatus which will then be used by the entire service structure, from healthcare, to schools, to public bodies ”.
Concerns about temporary job creation
The partial tenders are managed by Infratel , an in-house company of the Ministry of Economic Development, created to manage the fiber network. “The unions are against companies that do not create good jobs. When Open Fiber was created, new companies were created that employed about 9 thousand workers to excavate and put cables. Employment was created that did not have continuity of skills that digital should have instead – says the secretary Vito Vitale -. Therefore, temporary employment is created without giving educational continuity. It would be better to invest in skills to grow in step with the digital world ". Therefore the unions are worried by the companies created ad hoc to compete for partial tenders. “There would be more structured companies that could compete such as Silte , Nokia , Ericksson , Solution Trend that have a vision of the future – continues the secretary of Fistel-Cisl -. The problem is that suppliers tend to pass on the drop in turnover on the cost of work ”.
Network duplication
“There is a double network problem that started with Open Fiber in 2016 – concludes Vitale -. It is as if we had two highways, one built with state money, because Open Fiber was born with capital from Cdp and Enel, and the other is Tim which is a private company that continues to put fiber in the area. These two paths should find a convergence also because Cdp is also within Tim as well as within Open Fiber. The government must decide where to put its money because it cannot support both and then put them in competition ”.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/tim-sindacati-rete-kkr-vivendi-e-infratel/ on Sun, 19 Dec 2021 07:37:19 +0000.