Tlc, 35% of the market lost and companies in pressure on energy and regulation

What is behind us is a watershed year for telecommunications in Italy, with incumbent Tim, unique in the sector, selling its network and the upcoming merger between Fastweb and Vodafone Italia (to be acquired by Swisscom).

There is no demand crisis and we continue to invest something like 26% of our annual revenues. But the combination of two data, which are positive, does not give a positive result in our country. On the contrary. Two figures more than others - among those presented yesterday at the Forum on the Telecommunications Sector in Italy, organised by Assotelecomunicazioni-Asstel and Slc-Cgil, Fistel-Cisl and Uilcom-Uil - seem to provide the measure of the long desert crossing for the sector. Between 2010 and 2023, revenues dropped by 14.7 billion to 27.2 billion, sending 35% of the market up in smoke. Second figure: in 2010, cash flow - understood as the difference between Ebitda and Capex - was positive at 10.5 billion, 21% of revenues, but in 2023 it dropped to 500 million. The figure returned to positive from -3.8 billion in 2022, on which, however, weighed the maxi-injection for 5G frequencies. Without that disbursement it would have been EUR 700 million: higher therefore than in 2023.

More than a few alarms for Tlc resounded yesterday at the Forum, which was opened by Luiss president Luigi Gubitosi and the greetings of Confindustria president Emanuele Orsini, connected by video, who emphasised that the sector had suffered 'a greater drop in revenues than the rest of Europe, at a time when strong investments are needed. We need structural funds to be allocated to this strategic priority for the whole of Europe, which is a necessity'.

Massimo Sarmi, president of Asstel, outlines the types of interventions: they range from the request for the introduction of mitigation measures for the cost of energy (also, in the medium-long term, equating telcos to energy-intensive companies), to the invitation to the government to act "in the European sphere to guarantee fair competition in the digital market, ensuring a level playing field between telecoms and Big Tech" (with the request for a contribution to the investments made by telcos for their networks), and the request to extend the incentives of Plan 5.0 to purchases of Tlc goods and services.

Instances that were listed after the illustration of the data of the Asstel Report: stable revenues (+0.1%) in the last year, as mentioned at 27.2 billion, but with a continuous erosion in the mobile sector (-5%) and against a +2% increase in operating costs. All this with a high level of investment, EUR 7 billion per year, and the result of a wicked price war that shows no sign of abating, combined with the consideration of a market that would need a selection among operators.