Decades after European regulators forced the separation of telephone and postal monopolies, two Italian communications businesses are considering a merger.
During a wave of privatization in the 1980s and 90s, there was a separation of postal services and telecoms throughout Europe as governments looked to tap into the liberalization of telecoms markets by breaking up their national PTTs — government agencies with a monopoly on operating postal, telephone, and telegraph services.
Now, for one country at least, it’s back to square one: Poste Italiane is ready to snap up Italian telecoms provider TIM in a deal worth €10.8 billion.
Postal services have been hit badly over the past few decades: The arrival of email, social media and mobile text messaging services have been a boost for telcos but the corresponding drop in postal volumes has been felt across the world.
Poste Italiane sees opportunities in reuniting with the former state-owned telecommunications business: “The creation of an integrated group strategic pillar for the national economy, Italy’s largest connected infrastructure with leading positions in financial and insurance services,” it said in a news release.
The company is looking to build some complementary services. “The transaction aims to scale and enhance Poste Italiane’s platform by adding three significant assets: a nationwide fixed and mobile network, a leading position in the country’s cloud and data center infrastructure and the ability to offer secure and seamless connectivity to all stakeholders,” it said.
Poste Italiane was already the largest stakeholder in TIM and, as the government is the largest stakeholder in Poste Italiane, we’re getting back to the status quo of the 1980s. There is no sign, however, of other European governments following suit.
