Iliad Italia CEO Benedetto Levi (pictured) raised concerns with competition bodies over a pending merger of tower assets by Telecom Italia and Vodafone, a little over a week after seeking to block fellow rivals Fastweb and Wind Tre from sharing 5G infrastructure, Reuters reported.
The move appears to be another attack to gain ground on rivals in Italy. Telecom Italia and Vodafone Italia signed a merger agreement in July 2019 to enable a joint 5G rollout. The deal, which would see the pair merge their infrastructure into Telecom Italia’s Inwit tower company, is currently under review by European antitrust bodies.
Levi argued the merger posed a risk to competition, Reuters stated. The executive added Iliad Italia is “not against network sharing agreements per se”, but said such deals should not distort the market.
The news agency stated Iliad Italia is the only operator in the country yet to ink a 5G network sharing agreement, although Levi revealed the operator aims to launch its 5G network by the end of the year.
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