During the Salotto 2025 event organized by the Milan Internet Exchange, within the panel “The Future of Telecommunications in the EU and the Digital Networks Act”, Italy’s leading TELCO operators discussed the future of digital networks and the expected impact of the still-developing European regulation. The various contributions offered critical analyses, market insights, and recommendations addressed to policymakers.
The DNA and Europe: A Reform Still Taking Shape
The panel – which included participation from Andrea Casu, Vice President of the IX Commission (Transport, Postal Services and Telecommunications), Giulio Centemero, Lega Party Leader of the VI Commission (Finance), and Giulia Pastorella, Party Leader of the IX Commission (Transport, Postal Services and Telecommunications) – opened with an examination of the five key pillars announced by the European Commission for the DNA: regulatory simplification, spectrum management, governance, regulatory asymmetries between Telcos and OTTs, and the reform of network access.
Kicking off the operator-focused portion of the discussion, lawyer Innocenzo Genna emphasized that the current draft of the DNA has not yet been published and that the political climate has shifted compared to the previous European Commission, now more attentive to competition and the role of small and community-based operators.
Renzo Ravaglia, CEO of FibreConnect: “We don’t need consolidation, we need density economics”
In the second part of the panel, FibreConnect CEO Renzo Ravaglia reiterated his “deeply pro-European” stance, viewing continental collaboration as the only viable path for economic and technological growth. However, he expressed concern about policies that might encourage consolidation, arguing instead for the importance of having many operators close to the territory and to end users.
“Economies of scale are not the real solution. What creates value is economy of density — the ability to be present locally, ensure competitiveness, and offer low prices thanks to competition.”
Ravaglia represented “the hundreds of proximity operators” that keep the Italian market dynamic, continue investing, and drive fiber development.
Collaboration and Wholesale: Market, Infrastructure, Innovation
The other operators participating in the panel (Open Fiber, WindTre, Retelit, and Eolo) shared the need for new collaborative models — especially in the wholesale segment — to avoid duplicated networks and enable effective fiber penetration even in less central areas.
Stefano Mazzitelli, Chief Commercial Officer at Open Fiber, highlighted the strategic importance of cooperation among operators in building widespread infrastructure. He stressed the need to maintain genuine openness in the wholesale market and to continue investing in infrastructure innovation. According to Open Fiber, the DNA must create an environment that fosters both competition (to lower prices and increase quality) and operational cooperation to avoid waste and redundancy in next-generation networks.
Ruggero Slongo, Chief Operating Officer at Retelit, expressed particular concern about the access-regulation portion of the proposal, to which they are opposed. He emphasized the importance of flexible regulatory models that allow Italian companies to respond dynamically to the needs of the local productive fabric. Retelit called for a DNA that ensures an evolving regulatory framework — one that respects national industrial specificities while still being uniform enough at the European level to support cross-border investments and partnerships.
Guido Garrone, CEO of Eolo, a leader in wireless solutions, brought forward the perspective of “technological neutrality.” According to Eolo, the DNA should promote the adoption of the most appropriate technology in each context — whether pure fiber or wireless connectivity — without imposing technocratic models or FTTH-only approaches. For Garrone, it is “A no to regulation that kills diversity.”
Roberto Bussolotti, Wholesale Director at WindTre, which recently acquired Opnet, reiterated the importance of making infrastructure available to smaller operators and working synergistically to maximize fiber penetration, especially in less densely populated areas. WindTre emphasized that the true driver of development is technological and commercial collaboration, paired with a regulatory environment that does not constrain but instead encourages innovation-focused investment.
The panel highlighted a shared front across major themes: collaboration, technological neutrality, open wholesale models, bureaucratic simplification, and attention to local specificities. Each operator, from their own perspective, acknowledged that the real goal must be the widespread adoption of ultrafast broadband and digital services across the entire country — without sacrificing innovation, competition, and industrial pluralism.
Challenges for Italy: Copper Switch-off, Fiber Take-up, Slow Regulation
The shift from copper to fiber is a central issue: Italy is behind European targets for fiber adoption, despite a rapidly expanding fiber network. Operators pointed out that the transition is slowed by structural barriers and by regulation that is often fragmented and slow-moving.
Ravaglia reminded the audience that: “Copper was paid for through everyone’s bills, so the transition to fiber is essential and will happen, switch-off or not, it’s only a matter of time.”
Proximity operators continue to invest, driven by the belief that fiber offers a sustainable future for the country and its businesses.
What Operators Are Asking of the DNA
The collective request is that the DNA promote streamlined permitting procedures, enable collaboration, and protect healthy competition, avoiding deregulation that could lead to oligopolies and the disappearance of local operators.
FibreConnect, through Renzo Ravaglia, emphasized that Italy’s competitiveness in the telecom sector stems precisely from the presence of many operators, each ready to invest and innovate to offer better services.
In the coming months, the DNA will be closely monitored, with the hope that the European Commission will promote models based on collaboration and diversity, pushing the market toward truly sustainable and shared growth.