The chairman of Italy’s state-backed holding company Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), Franco Bassanini, has denied that he was asked to step down due to a refusal to countenance an investment in Telecom Italia. Bassanini and CDP CEO Giovanni Gorno Tempini will be replaced at the start of July and unnamed sources told Reuters that Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi wanted CDP's management replaced due to rifts over the need to make investments in infrastructure and support companies, with the Italian press reporting that Bassanini refused to make a direct investment in Telecom Italia. However, Bassanini told reporters on the sidelines of a Milan conference this was not the case. "The Treasury, CDP's foundation shareholders and the government have never asked CDP to buy Telecom Italia shares," he said.
Renzi’s flagship Strategy for Italian Broadband and Digital Growth 2014-20 has been held up over Telecom Italia's role, especially after the former incumbent announced its own separate plan to bring fibre to 40 Italian cities by 2017. This led to Bassanini casting doubts on the operator’s valuation of its network, adding that the government may break EU rules if it decided to take a stake in the operator. Bassanini will now be replaced by former banker Claudio Costamagna but will continue as chairman of broadband provider Metroweb while becoming an adviser on the government's superfast broadband network expansion plan.
