Telecom Italia Is Said to Kick Off $5 Billion New Fiber Plan

(Bloomberg) -- Telecom Italia SpA, Italy’s former phone monopoly, is drawing up a new plan worth between 4 billion and 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion) to speed up its fiber roll-out in the country, according to a document seen by Bloomberg.

Telecom Italia earlier this month launched a new tender aimed at widening the company’s fiber-to-the-home coverage to about 10 million Italian households, according to the document and people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named discussing confidential plans.

The plan also includes maintenance and upgrade of about 13 million lines, the document shows. The bids are expected by end-November, and would run from 2021 to 2025, the people said.

The tender involves FiberCop, Telecom Italia’s secondary grid, which covers the “last mile” of cables from street cabinets to premises. The plan represents a major renewal of Telecom Italia’s secondary grid, which the phone carrier agreed to separate earlier this year in order to raise much-needed cash.

A spokesman for Telecom Italia declined to comment.

The successful tender would mean Telecom Italia is pressing ahead with its own projects without waiting for a merger between FiberCop with smaller rival Open Fiber SpA.

Telecom Italia Chief Executive Officer Luigi Gubitosi has for months been working on the possible tie-up with Open Fiber, a state-backed company owned equally by Italy’s state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA and the country’s largest utility, Enel SpA. The merger is backed by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who wants to create a single network in order to avoid investment duplication. Telecom Italia agreed in September to sell a 37.5% stake in FiberCop to investment firm KKR & Co. for 1.8 billion euros.

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