Italy’s anti-trust authority has confirmed it has launched an investigation into possible abuse by Telecom Italia. The probe will analyze the company’s rollout of broadband Internet in rural and low populated areas. The Italian government has butted heads with TIM since the company rolled out the fast Internet in areas, which are considered non-economically. Rome believes the telecommunications provider jeopardized tenders previously launched by the government in the same areas.
The watchdog is expected to determine whether or not TIM had attempted to obstruct the state tenders. It’ll also look into accusations that the company may have preemptively sought to acquire clients using anti-competitive commercial practices. In a statement, TIM denied the accusations. The company remains adamant that they acted in compliance with the rules.
TIM previously decided to take advantage of Rome tenders, which would eventually provide operators with subsidies for deploying fiber Internet to rural areas. However, they withdrew and opted to invest their own money instead. In June of this year, a cabinet minister confirmed that the government would attempt to seek damages from Telecom Italia.
