FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Negotiations, which had stalled until recently, appeared to be moving forward after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited President-elect Donald Trump in Florida on Saturday.
Discussions are ongoing and a final agreement on the five-year contract has not been reached, said the people, who asked not to be identified citing confidential discussions.
The project with Elon Musk's SpaceX for an agreement to provide secure telecommunications for the country's government has already been approved by Italy's Intelligence Services as well as the Defense Ministry, sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Negotiations, which had stalled until recently, appeared to be moving forward after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited President-elect Donald Trump in Florida on Saturday.
Italian officials have negotiated a 1.5 billion euro ($1.6 billion) deal aimed at supplying Italy with a full range of high-level encryption for phone and Internet services used by the government, the sources said.
The plan also includes communications services for the Italian military in the Mediterranean area, as well as the extension of so-called direct-to-mobile satellite services in Italy for use in emergencies such as terrorist attacks or natural disasters, they said.
The potential deal, which has been under consideration since mid-2023, has been opposed by some Italian officials worried about how the services could hurt domestic carriers.
Representatives from the Italian government and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment made outside regular business hours.
In 2024 alone, Musk's SpaceX has added more than 20 countries from Ghana to Argentina to its Starlink satellite internet service. This service is now offered to more than 4 million people in over 100 countries and territories, covering the globe with broadband services, displacing legacy telecom operators and overcoming new challenges and nation-state rivals such as China.
Late last year, Kyivstar PJSC, Ukraine's largest mobile operator, signed an agreement with Starlink to introduce satellite-powered mobile service.
SpaceX offers its Starlink service for commercial applications, ranging from residential Internet service to shipping and airlines, and is also developing a product called Starshield for defensive and sensitive uses.
Italy is one of the most competitive markets in the world for phone operators, who have been struggling with shrinking profits for years. The domestic industry is facing a new round of mergers as well as disposal of multi-billion dollar assets.
Last year Telecom Italia SpA, the country's former telephone monopoly, sold its landline network to US private equity firm KKR & Co. in a €22 billion deal aimed at reducing its debt level. The sale of the network was the first of its kind for a European telephone company and it was strongly supported by the Meloni government.
Italy considers telecommunications as a strategic asset.
The government has stakes in both Telecom Italia and a new KKR-owned phone network company called FiberCop. In addition, Italy controls FiberCop's smaller rival Open Fiber.
Italy is among the countries already served by Starlink, which provides broadband internet through its network of more than 7,000 SpaceX satellites. Last year, Starlink claimed that Telecom Italia was hindering the rollout of its high-speed internet services.
The Italian government was reviewing alternatives to Musk's Starlink option, but the costs were running at 10 billion euros. / Adapted "Pamphlet" from "Bloomberg"
Lini një Përgjigje