The head of Italian state holding company Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale told La Tribune Desfosses that his mandate remains to sell the state telephone holding company Stet SpA to a diffuse group of shareholders, with only financial and not industrial groups holding more than 2% of the equity – a slap in the face for Alcatel NV, which has been talking about teaming up with Pirelli SpA to buy a strategic stake in Stet; he pointed to the absence of reciprocity between the French and Italian telecommunications policies as an obstacle to Alcatel’s becoming a shareholder in Stet – I don’t see why Alcatel should be allowed into the Italian market while the French system refuses entry into France Telecom – there’s no objective reason that Alcatel should be at the top of Stet, when we don’t have the same rights in France – that’s my personal opinion, he commented.
