The two signed an agreement in March and clearly expected a regulatory nod, but the watchdog has a list of concerns and says it will reach a decision before the end of April 2027
Italy’s Autorita Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) has opened an investigation into a proposed network-sharing agreement between TIM and Fastweb+Vodafone (owned by Swisscom) in March. The two had agreed to share towers to accelerate 5G roll-out and avoid duplication of costs. The country’s other two national operators WindTre and Iliad already have a 5G network sharing but with a different, wholesale model.
AGCM has a list of concerns, starting with the fact that TIM is the largest mobile player in wholesale and retail, and Fastweb+Vodafone is the second.
Their proposed agreement covers municipalities with fewer than 35,000 inhabitants meaning their combined share of the wholesale access and call origination market would be more than 80%, according to the AGCM. Their joint retail share is more than 55% in the consumer sector and more than 70% for businesses.
The regulator also noted that their proposed deal includes sharing of most components of the RAN and their spectrum holding via a multi-operator core network (MOCN) set-up. The two didn’t go into great deal but the regulator clearly intends to, saying this aspect “requires a more careful assessment than other forms of network-sharing,” [translated from the original statement in Italian].
That is on the grounds that RAN planning is normally a key part of competitive strategy rather than a coordinated effort. On the other hand, WindTre and Iliad’s network-sharing arrangement also uses MOCN.
Spectrum issues
AGCM is not happy about the use of joint spectrum holdings by TIM and Fastweb+Vodafone which collectively have at least 580MHz of frequencies which equates to more than 60% of all spectrum allocated for the provision of mobile services in the areas concerned.
Furthermore, this looks likely to still be the case at the time of future frequency allocations and could effectively form a cartel or cooperative agreement, rather than compete against each other. Remember that Italy, like Germany, made more than €6 billion in the original 5G spectrum auction.
And the agreement could stifle innovation and not be in the interests of customers, and end up with Italy’s mobile provision being the province of two partnerships.
It could all run and run, as is so often the way in Italian telecoms. TIM and Fastweb+Vodafone have 60 days to reply to the AGCM’s concerns. In its weekly bulletin, the Italian regulator said it would assess whether the agreement is in breach of competition laws by the end of April 2027.
