Italy's antitrust authority on
Monday accepted and made obligatory vows from telecoms companies
TIM and Fastweb on a co-investment deal to build an FTTH
fibre-optic network covering 29 major Italian cities via the
joint company Flash Fiber, the authority said in a statement.
In February last year the anti-trust authority opened
proceedings against TIM (formerly Telecom Italia) and Fastweb
for possible uncompetitive practices after they unveiled the
fibre-optic joint venture called Flash Fiber.
Antitrust agents searched offices of the two companies,
helped by the antitrust unit of the Finance Guards tax police.
Flash Fiber aims to build fibre-optic networks in Fiber To
The Home (FTTH) architecture in Italy's 29 biggest cities.
The antitrust said at the time that "the accord, while being
promoted to the declared end of enabling a more efficient
development of innovative technological infrastructure, may, at
the same time, prove to be potentially prone towards preventing,
restricting or falsifying in a major way competition on national
markets for wholesale access to landlines and retail broadband
and ultrawide band telecommunications services".
Fastweb and Telecom Italia said they had done nothing wrong
and would collaborate fully with authorities.
Monday's anti-trust authority ruling has vindicated their
pledges.
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