Italian Competition Authority Closes FiberCop and TIM MSA Investigation

I874-I874B - The Italian Competition Authority closes investigation into MSA between FiberCop and TIM

PRESS RELEASE

Investigation launched in December 2024 now closed following the acceptance of commitments addressing the Authority’s concerns.

The Italian Competition Authority has accepted FiberCop and TIM’s commitments, thereby closing its investigation into the Master Service Agreement (MSA) signed by the two companies following the divestment of the network in July 2024. The commitments were accepted after an extensive consultation process involving stakeholders across the sector – including through a market test – as well as the Italian Communications Authority (AgCom). This process sought to secure effective competition across retail and wholesale markets while maintaining appropriate incentives for future investments by market operators.

The investigation, opened on 17 December 2024, focused on specific provisions of the agreement. These included exclusivity clauses between TIM and FiberCop for network access services, rebate schemes granted by FiberCop on network access prices, and the terms governing the transfer of indefeasible rights of use (IRUs) for fibre lines serving business customers. The Authority had opened the investigation amid concerns that the agreement could restrict competition in both wholesale and retail markets, weaken incentives for future investments by market operators in fibre infrastructure (FTTH), and affect the migration of TIM’s customers from copper to fibre networks.

Given the differing levels of network deployment across the country – in terms of the type of technology used and the degree of infrastructure-based competition – the Authority sought to promote both static and dynamic competition. This applies both in areas where competing FTTH networks already operate alongside the incumbent, and in areas with weaker infrastructure-based competition, where further investments need to be encouraged, while ensuring that customers remain free to switch between operators.

Against this background, the commitments significantly reduce the duration of the exclusivity clauses. In areas where the FTTH network remains underdeveloped, they also make exclusivity conditional on new investments. The parties have also agreed to substantially revise the mechanism – as originally envisaged in the MSA – allowing FiberCop to provide intermediation services in connection with migration requests from TIM’s customers. The revised framework safeguards TIM’s independence and addresses concerns that the mechanism might have discouraged migration. The Authority also found the changes to the rebate scheme sufficient to address its concerns.

Rome, 23 February 2026

Text of the decision

Text of the commitments_FiberCop

Text of the commitments_TIM

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