When the Government of Mr. Lamberto Dini dissolved, it left the Italian telecommunications and broadcasting system in the midstream of a major reform. The enabling legislation for a Telecommunications Regulatory Authority had been adopted, but necessary implementing legislation had not even been discussed. Three major bills for a reform of the telecommunications and broadcasting system had been discussed and amended, but no final decisions had been reached. There was agreement to privatize STET (Societa Finanziaria Telefonica), the holding company of the State telecommunications company, Telecom Italia S.p.A., but no definitive plan for privatization had been reached. In addition, the possibility of opening a bid to license a third, cellular telephone services company had also been discussed, but no bid was opened. This situation must be seen against the background of a European Union deadline for the liberalization of fixed, voice telecommunication services by January 1, 1998, a
We operate a free-to-view policy, asking only that you register in order to read all of our content. Please login or register to view the rest of this article.
