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Telecommunications

The Italian media is comprised of national and regional newspapers, specialist publications and consumer magazines, two main TV networks (the state-owned RAI and commercial Mediaset) and various satellite channels. The constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press, and the government generally respected these rights in practice. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combined to ensure freedom of speech and the press.

In the 1930's Italy was one of the first countries to begin international short-wave broadcasts. Guglielmo Marconi, the man who invented radio, oversaw the construction of the first short-wave transmitter at Prato Smeraldo outside Rome on July 1st 1930. Four years later two more transmitters were completed and broadcasts began in English and Italian to North America. During the Second World War to the original aim of linking Italy with the vast community of Italian migrants around the world were added the political and strategic motives for international broadcasting common to all the Great Powers.

On 26 October 1944, the first Bonomi government issued the first bill on the reorganization of the whole radio system, creating Radio Audizioni Italia (RAI). With the unification of the national network in November 1946, it was decided that two channels were to be equal - the Rete Rossa and the Rete Azzurra were thus created. On 30 December 1951, a new organization took its place: the channels were divided into Programma Nazionale, Secondo Programma and Terzo Programma, a division based on content to satisfy audience demand. The Programma Nazionale was thus conceived to satisfy the average audience requirements, with news programmes for those who wanted to be informed on political questions, but also with entertainment programs; the Secondo Programma was more recreational, while the Terzo Programma was more cultural.

A 1962 law allocated management of international short-wave broadcasts, for which a special committee of the Cabinet Office is responsible, to state broadcaster Rai. As the years went by the programs lost their character of official - sometimes even propaganda - broadcasts to become a news source that fully reflects the democratic nature of the Italian Republic. Towards the end of the Cold War the Italian state television channel RAI-2 [Rai Due] was known as the Socialist Party channel. It was thought that RAI-1 [ Rai Uno], was controlled by the Christian Democrat Party. The third state channel, Rai Tre, was controlled by the Communists.

Prime Minister Berlusconi is the founder and major shareholder of Fininvest, one of the country's ten largest privately owned companies, which operates in media and finance. Its portfolio includes three (out of seven) national analog television channels, various digital television channels, as well as some of the larger-circulation news magazines. Together these account for nearly half the Italian market. The Italian media provide a broad spectrum of political opinions, including those critical of Prime Minister Berlusconi and his policies. There were approximately 80 newspapers, of which 8 had national readership; the Berlusconi family controlled 2 of them. Critics charged that Prime Minister Berlusconi directly or indirectly controlled six of the country's seven national broadcast channels: Mediaset (a company in which the Prime Minister had a major interest) owned three, and the state-owned network (RAI) controlled the other three. In December 2003, President Ciampi declined to sign legislation proposed by the Government to relax restrictions on ownership of mass media; in May 2004, the Parliament approved a revised bill, which increased those restrictions.

The independent media are active and expressed a wide variety of views. However, disputes over partisanship on the airwaves continued to prompt frequent political debate, and NGOs contended that media ownership was concentrated in too few hands. The prime minister is the major shareholder of the country's largest private television company, Mediaset, its largest magazine publisher, Mondadori, and its largest advertising company, Publitalia. His brother owns one of the country's nationwide dailies, Il Giornale.

In 1997, Parliament enacted legislation to reform the telecommunications market to promote competition in accordance with EU directives. This legislation permits companies to operate in all sectors of the telecommunications market, including radio, television and telephone, subject to certain antitrust limitations, and provided for the appointment of a supervisory authority. The Italian Telecommunication Authority (Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni, or “AGCOM”), consists of eight members appointed by Parliament and a president appointed by the Government. It is responsible for issuing licenses and has the power to regulate tariffs and impose fines and other sanctions. Each fixed and mobile telephony operator must obtain an individual license, which is valid for 15 years and renewable.

Italy’s telecommunications market is one of the largest in Europe, utilizing an aggregate of approximately 25.1 million fixed lines as of December 31, 2007. As of December 31, 2008, the ratio of total mobile telephone lines active to Italy’s population was greater than 150 per cent. The telecommunications market was deregulated in January 1998 and while Telecom Italia, which was privatized in 1997, remains the largest operator, it is facing increasing competition from new operators that have been granted licenses for national and local telephone services. Competition among telecommunications operators has resulted in lower charges and a wider range of services offered. In January 2000, access to local loop telephony was liberalized.

In 1995, following the adoption of legislation aimed at developing competition in the mobile telephone business, Telecom Italia Mobile (“TIM”) was spun-off from Telecom Italia and publicly listed; however, in 2004, in furtherance of a restructuring plan aimed, inter alia, at strengthening its position in the market, TIM merged into Telecom Italia. The Government also granted mobile licenses to other mobile operators. TIM remains the largest mobile operator, followed by Vodafone Italia (controlled by the Vodafone Group), Wind and H3G. In 1998, the European Parliament authorized EU member countries to grant a limited number of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System, or “UMTS,” licenses for third-generation, or 3G, mobile telephony services, through which companies intend to provide additional and enhanced services including high-speed wireless internet access. The allocation process of UMTS licenses in Italy was implemented by an auction among pre-qualified applicants. In 2000, five UMTS licenses were granted for terms of fifteen years. Italy raised €13,815 million through the UMTS license auction.

The Italian market for telecommunications equipment and services is the third largest in Europe. Italy is also the second largest mobile communications market in Western Europe and one of the most advanced. Mobile phone diffusion in Italy is among the highest in the world, with close to 91 million SIM cards activated (with multiple-SIM ownership) and 23 million of them enabling UMTS services. Clients served number more than 46 million, about three quarters of the total population in Italy.

With regard to Internet usage, Italy still lags behind other major European countries, but it has experienced significant growth in recent years. The estimated number of internet users in Italy reached 31 million in 2008, even though ten million Italian families still do not own a PC. Italian users are relatively less mature in the use of this medium with respect to the European average, but they are catching up.