Open Fiber, waiting for the single network, ahead with the industrial plan

Open Fiber, waiting for the single network, ahead with the industrial plan

At least twelve months will be needed to negotiate the possible merger between the Telecom network and that of Open Fiber, but this will not happen before Netco passes to the consortium led by KKR. Therefore, the “single network” – if the plan goes ahead – will not be implemented before the middle of next year. In the meantime, Open Fiber will have to continue with its projects alone: ​​complete the network in unserved areas, where private individuals would not invest without incentives, and work on partially unserved areas, where the construction of the fiber network is financed through funds of the Pnrr. This is what was reported by Il Sole 24 Ore. Yesterday, the board of the company – of which 60% is held by Cdp and the remaining 40% by the Italian infrastructure fund Macquarie – approved the industrial plan which will also be presented to the banks with which the refinancing of the loans is being negotiated – currently 7.2 billion euros – to be increased by 1-2 billion euros.

In addition to the plan, the banks are waiting for a directive from the Government, considering that Open Fiber is under public control and that the 500 million euro capital increase approved almost two years ago has not yet been executed. Open Fiber is also conducting advanced negotiations with the Government, in particular with Mimit, to review the economic-financial plan of the concession relating to the unserved areas, owned by the state, unlike the partially unserved areas where the network is owned by the builder. The request for review, based on Article 24 of the Bul concession, was submitted in early autumn. The initial figure – 870 million euros – would have been reduced during the negotiations to just under 800 million euros.

However, no available public funds have yet been identified to address this adjustment. A meeting will probably be held in the next few days with the Treasury Minister, Giancarlo Giorgetti, to discuss this issue. So far, Open Fiber has received an advance of 540 million euros on Pnrr funds for partially unserved areas, but has declared difficulties in meeting coverage commitments on schedule. Funds that will have to be returned if a quick solution is not found, considering that the works for the fiber network in partially unserved areas must be completed by June 2026, under penalty of losing 1.8 billion euros intended for the lots assigned to Open Fiber. At the end of January, a roundtable was started with the Department for Digital Transformation of the Presidency of the Council and Infratel, which acts as a technical interface both for the partially unserved areas and for the unserved areas under the responsibility of Mimit.

Additional costs of a few hundred million euros have emerged in partially unserved areas, which Open Fiber will have to deal with to complete the work. It is important to consider that next spring both Open Fiber and its main shareholder, Cdp, will have to face the renewal of their respective boards of directors. Last September the change at the helm of the company was announced, with Giuseppe Gola replacing Mario Rossetti as CEO.