News
Swiss incumbent reportedly discussed Wind Tre partnership
Swisscom is said to be evaluating the options for its Italian unit Fastweb, including a possible sale, it emerged this week.
Bloomberg reported on Monday that the Swiss incumbent also recently discussed a partnership between Fastweb and mobile operator Wind Tre. However, sources claimed the latter’s parent, Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison, is not interested in augmenting its Italian unit with a fixed-line operation.
According to the report, the deliberations are in their early stages and Swisscom might ultimately decide to hold onto Fastweb.
The rumour mill is turning as Italy’s operators adjust to life with a new rival in the form of Free, a subsidiary of France-based Iliad, that launched in May and immediately put pressure on the country’s incumbents with low-cost offers.
Italian mobile operators also recently submitted combined bids totalling €6.55 billion in the country’s recently-concluded 5G spectrum auction.
Meanwhile, a separate report late last week claimed Wind Tre is looking to cut debt by offloading its mobile towers, which could fetch as much as US$1 billion (€863 million).
