Italian state holding company Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale plans to sell control of the mobile telephone business operated by its SIP SpA telephone company by spring of 1994 Il Sole-24 Ore said: Italy has the second-largest cellular phone business in Europe, with some 865,000 mobile phones in use; Il Sole said the cellular phone business would be de-merged from SIP later this year when the Telecom Italia, the planned new single telecommunications operating company, is formed; the first step in the formation of Telecom Italia will take place later this year with the merger of SIP and intercontinental company Italcable SpA.
