ROME--Telecom Italia SpA (TI) will only proceed with a spinoff
of its network into a new company, probably with state-backed Cassa
Deposit e Prestiti, if there are "significant regulatory
advantages," Chairman Franco Bernabe said in an interview with Rome
daily Il Messaggero published Monday.
"There has to be a strong incentive both for the network company
that will be created and for the company that remains," Mr. Bernabe
said.
Telecom Italia's board agreed Thursday to explore the
possibility of a spinoff of the network, which would allow all
service providers equal access to the country's fixed-line
hardware.
That approval is based on the company's "hope" that European
Communications Commissioner Nellie Kroes will issue new regulatory
recommendations in the next few weeks, Mr. Bernabe said.
He said Telecom Italia expects to reduce its group debt to
closer to EUR27.5 billion ($35.54 billion) by the end of the year,
a level he said showed it was no longer "urgent" to reduce
debt--which a spinoff of the network would help achieve.
Newspaper Web site: www.ilmessaggero.it
Rome Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; +39 06 6976 6920