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Telecommunications
The impetus for Italy's telecommunications deregulation was alignment with EU standards, guided by the 1987 "Green Paper on the Development of the Common Market for Telecommunications Services". The timetable for deregulation was as follows:
| pre-1992 | Telecom services provided directly from the state or through concessionaires |
|---|---|
| 1992 | Awarded management directly to concessionaires |
| Upon concern of lack of development, merged concessionaires into state-owned Telecom Italia | |
| 1995 | Liberalized all services except fixed voice, mobile & satellite, network installations |
| 1997 | Satellite networks & services liberalized |
| 1997 | Creation of national regulatory agency, AGCOM |
| 1997 | Sale of Telecom Italia, full liberalization |
As of 2003, there 230 licenses for fixed voice service providers. The largest of those, after Telecom Italia, are Infostrada, Fastweb, Tiscali, Albacom, and Tele2. Major mobile service providers are H3G, TIM(merged with Telecom Italia), Vodafone, and Wind. Mannesmann owns a majority stake in Infostrada. Telecom Italia was acquired by Olivetti in a hostile takeover, and Olivetti itself was subsequently acquired and placed underneath the Telecom Italia name. Pertinent statistics include:
| Size of Telecommunications Market | €41,860 million |
|---|---|
| Mobile penetration rate | 101.76 |
| Total mobile users | 55,918 million |
| Growth rate(1998-2003) | 22.2% |
| Fixed line penetration rate | 48.40 |
| Total fixed lines | 26,596 million |
| Total internet hosts | 672,638 |
| Internet hosts per 10,000 | 119 |
Source: ITU.Ubiquitous Network Societies: The Case of the Italian Republic.
