TIM in Italy: Why a Single Broadband Network Is a Risk

Italy’s New Digital Road 2.0

With the latest lockdown rules sweeping the peninsula, Italians are once again becoming digital natives. From school to start‑ups and even coffee shop chats, the entire country is leaning on the internet as the lifeline that keeps the economy ticking.

Speed of Life: Italy’s Internet Reality

For when the first Italian internet connection went live in 1986, Rome felt right at home, only to see the digital waves slow down over the next decades.
Despite being one of the first European countries online, Italy still lags in the speed race, holding the 47th spot worldwide – a fact that has left Italians scrambling. Look: no cable TV, no fiber-fueled speed, and a copper‑centric past that still holds sway.

Moving the Needle: The ‘Single Broadband’ Gambit

At the end of August, the Giuseppe Conte coalition rolled out a bold plan to save bucks and crank out a super‑fast national fibre‑optic network. The idea? Mash together two titans – Telecom Italia (TIM) and Open Fiber – and birth a new company called AccessCo. If done right, this could cut duplicate spending and upgrade the old copper mesh into crisp Fiber‑To‑The‑Home.

What Went Wrong?

Provider Pitfall: The merger might stop the competition that usually keeps the market dynamic. Instead of a friendly rivalry, it could become a quiet monopoly, slowing rollout and hiking up prices.
Legacy Love: The backbone of the problem isn’t co‑investment chaos – it’s how long Italians have clung to TIM’s slow‑moving network.
In the end, the promise of “one fast network for all” might feel less like a silver bullet and more like a paper‑thin promise that risks the future of Rome’s digital dreams.

Bottom Line

Rome’s plans for a national broadband upgrade look bright on paper, but the real world is trickier. With competition drying up and old habits holding fast, Italians may have to wait a bit longer for that high‑speed internet they’ve been craving. Until then, let’s keep the coffee, the jokes, and the streaming buffering waiting – you’ve earned it.

Tricksy TIM

When Italy’s Mobile Monopoly Got Stuck in a Time‑Machine

It’s pretty clear that TIM has never been the hero of the Italian broadband saga. For years the company has been the gatekeeper of an old‑school monopoly that turned slow and sluggish internet into a painful, overpriced affair for the average person.

Why the Long‑Running Struggle Is Still a Problem

No competitive pressure – with its dominance, TIM had no reason to drop prices or roll out tricks and perks for customers.
Training wheels removed – regulators were hesitant to touch its power, so the company continued to take advantage of Italian latencies like a baby on a bumpy street.
Dowry of a “merge plan” – the government’s suggestion that rival operators combine forces looks a lot like handing the same old, slow wheels to a biker gang that already knows how to break a record.

Tim’s Modern Failings

Even after all the buzzfolk life he says, TIM’s brand identity still looks like a pair of blue-and-red laundry stains that have more than a decade of laundry history on them. In March, the Italian antitrust watchdog handed the company a hefty €116‑million fine for attempting to block fresh players from joining the telecom market.

Initially refusing to invest in “uneconomic” segments—because who wants a hard or a receptive market, right?
When the company lost a government‑subsidised tender to Open Fiber, it decided to switch sides in a “quick‑change” twist that most people don’t see coming.
The antitrust team ruled it was a premeditated anti‑competition strategy, and the court spun away any appeal the firm filed.

Bottom Line

These shenanigans reveal a TIM that’s not exactly ready to roll the dice with other companies or share the spoils. Keeping a monopoly that fought to keep everyone’s internet forever lazy is a recipe for a “history repeat” scenario—unless the government acts, Italy’s residents will continue to enjoy the opportunity of varieties of slow and very expensive connections.

An alternative solution

Italy’s High‑Speed Hike, Now a Bumpy Road

In 2015, when Telecom Italia (TIM)’s broadband plans were slower than a snail on a summer day, the government kicked in the game‑changer: Open Fiber, a fresh‑look fibre‑optic venture. The result? In less than four years, 8.5 million Italian homes were sipping super‑fast internet, and the competition between the old guard and the new kid on the block earned applause worldwide.

Success That Spoke Volumes

Fast, public‑owned fibre network spurred ground‑breaking connectivity in Italy.
UK and German regulators took a note: “If it works here, it can work elsewhere.”
Open Fiber’s triumph seemed to promise a future where broadband was as common as coffee cups.

The Sudden Slide

Just when Italians were about to declare victory, Giuseppe Conte decided to hit the brakes. Two months after the announcement that Open Fiber would merge back into TIM, the “merger‑moments” triggered alarm bells among competition watchdogs and EU consumer circles. The fear? A monopoly‑sized access network that could raise prices for both consumers and businesses.

“One‑Camper Network?”

In mid‑October, the European consumer groups Euroconsumers and Altroconsumo sent a drama‑filled letter to the European Commission, warning that the “quasi‑monopolistic access network” could become a new villain in the telecom saga. They even speculated that this theme might spread across the continent, stirring a broader debate on market power.

Enel’s Red‑Flag Jot

The Enel CEO, Francesco Starace, has voiced unease over TIM’s moves and their impact on competition.
Because of these doubts, Enel is ready to hand over their ½ stake in TIM to Australia’s Macquarie Group, potentially shifting the ownership gears.
In short, Italy’s plan failed to hush both consumer watchdogs and Enel.

So, in a nutshell, Italy’s bold leap into high‑speed fibre met its first stumble. Will a new chapter of competition forge a kinder, faster network? Only time—and perhaps a bit of political grit—will tell.

Cautionary tales from Down Under

Australia’s Giant Internet Blunder

Picture this: a massive, government‑run plan to give every Aussie a lightning‑fast broadband connection. Sounds great, right? Turns out, the reality is more like a slow‑poke snail on a budget‑heavy treadmill.

How the NBN Got Out of Control

2009 Launch – The Aussie government set its sights on a national broadband network (NBN) and promised fast internet for all.
Cost‑cutting Chaos – In an attempt to trim fiber expenditures and cut corners on infrastructure, the new administration launched the project on a shoestring budget.
Inflation‑Induced Inflation – Instead of saving money, the costs just kept spiraling, and the budget ballooned into the billions.
Crappy Performance – The end result? A network that doesn’t function as intended. Talk about a flop.

After a Decade of Woes

51 Billion AUD – Ten years in, the NBN has cost Australia a whopping AUD 51 billion.
Speed Slump – The country’s internet ranking slipped from 30th to 50th worldwide.
Slow & Pricetag – Australians are stuck with stingy speeds and expensive subscriptions. Not exactly the “best internet for the planet” headlines promised.
Public Grumblings – The hype of a cutting‑edge system hasn’t materialized, leaving people bemused and frustrated.

Bottom Line

The NBN saga is a lesson in how a monolithic, state‑led approach can backfire, especially when you let the budget leak away. For now, Australians face a sluggish, overpriced internet experience—an outcome far removed from the promised game‑changing connectivity.

Intervention from above

Rome, Telecom Italia, and the EU: A Comedy of Corporate Catastrophe?

It seems Rome and Telecom Italia are happily dancing into a merger that could leave Italy in a very awkward bind.

While these two giants cheer happily, the European Commission might just be the sole hero that can rescue our country from the clutches of doom. Think of the Commission as a wise elder who knows that this “anti‑competition” model has flopped like a bad pizza crust before.

In Italy, the cash is likely to stay away from the strapping hands of the new broadband provider because it would consume funds from the hefty €209 billion Recovery and Resilience Fund, a €‑killer fountain no one wants to reach. Adding a company that’s already drowning in debt would be like inviting a boomerang to a dot‑ball game—there’s no point in shaking its ball.

Stirring a new competitor in 2016 was the speed‑lift Italy desperately needed. But if that very competitor is swallowed by the telecom giant, there’s a chance TIM will keep tower prices stacked higher than a stack of waffles and dawdle so long that broadband finally arrives the day after a lunar eclipse.

National monopolies on fixed‑line infrastructure are like a traffic jam in a marathon: the once‑promised speeder’s track becomes a gravel road, and progress stalls as the parties whine and wobble over who paid for what. The solution? Competition is the spark that lights the modern tech flame, and the EU must pull the fire alarm before Italy inadvertently burns it down.

Key Takeaways

The merger is a potential disaster pending EU antitrust review.
Investment dollars may be better used elsewhere than on a debt‑heavy telecom behemoth.
If a new competitor gets absorbed, TIM could set low tech standards.
Monopoly constraints are slowing tech rollout.
EU regulatory action might be our safety net.