Telecom Italia

Telecom Italia S.p.A.

Type	Società per azioni
Traded as	BIT: TIT, NYSE: TI
Industry	Telecommunications, media, manufacturing
Founded	1994
Founder(s)	IRI - STET
Headquarters	Milan (registered office), Rome (headquarters), Italy
Key people	Franco Bernabè (Chairman and CEO)
Products	Fixed line and mobile telephony, internet, IT services, television broadcasting
Revenue	€27.83 billion (2010)
Operating income	€5.813 billion (2010)
Profit	€3.121 billion (2010)
Total assets	€89.13 billion (end 2010)
Total equity	€32.61 billion (end 2010)
Employees	84,200 (end 2010)
Subsidiaries	Telecom Italia Mobile, Telecom Italia Media (67%), Olivetti
Website	www.telecomitalia.com

Telecom Italia is the largest Italian telecommunications company, also active in the media and manufacturing industries. Now a private concern listed on the Borsa Italiana, it was founded in 1994 by the merger of several state-owned telecommunications companies, the most important of which was Società Italiana per l'Esercizio Telefonico p.A. (known as SIP from the earlier Società Idroelettrica Piemontese), the state monopoly telephone operator in Italy.

The company operates landline telephone services in Italy, GSM mobile phone services in Italy and Brazil through its TIM subsidiary, and DSL internet and telephony services under the brand Alice in Italy and San Marino. It also owns a stake in Telecom Argentina. Telecom Italia also controls one of the main Italian television companies, Telecom Italia Media, and owns Olivetti, the manufacturer of computer peripherals and other hardware.

History

Telecom Italia was created in 1994 by the merger of several telecommunications companies among which Sip, Iritel, Italcable, Telespazio and Sirm.

In 1995 the mobile telephony division was spun off into TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile). Interbusiness, Italy’s largest Internet network, was created and around the same time with TIN (Telecom Italia Net) and the first ISPs, Internet became a reality in Italy too.

Telecom Italia registered office, 2 Piazza degli Affari, Milan, Italy

In 1996 TIM was one of the first companies in the world to introduce a new prepaid rechargeable phone card (GSM) and one year later launched the short messaging service (SMS) capability.

In 1997 Telecom Italia was privatised and was transformed into a large multimedia group.

After the reorganization of editorial activities, in 2005 Telecom Italia acquired Tin.it and Virgilio from Telecom Italia Media, the multimedia company of the Group. Telecom Italia Media, born in 2003 from Seat Pagine Gialle, focused its business on television sector with La7 and MTV channels.

The Telecom Italia Group also operates in South America: in Brazil as TIM Brasil and in Argentina and Paraguay with Telecom Argentina Group.

Sustainability

In 2002 Telecom Italia subscribed to the United Nations corporate responsibility initiative Global Compact. The firm continues to promote a sustainability strategy including both environmental and social issues. The company is a member of a number of stock market indexes which include companies focused on corporate social responsibility, including the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes and those administered by FTSE Group's FTSE4Good. Its part-owned Brazilian subsidiary TIM Participações is listed in the Bovespa's ISE (Índice de Sustentabilidade Empresarial) index.

Financial figures

2010

Telecom Italia Group reached revenues for 27,571 million euro, 11,412 million euro of EBITDA, 3,121 million euro of profit and had capital expenditures for 4,583 million euro. The net financial debt was 32,087 million euros. At December 31, 2010 the headcount was 84,200, 58,045 in Italy only. At the same date the fixed line network physical accesses were about 15.4 millions, the broadband retail accesses in Italy were 7.2 millions, Tim lines 31 millions, TIM Brasil lines 51 millions, mobile lines in Paraguay 1.9 millions, and in Argentina the number of fixed lines were 4.1 millions, the broadband accesses 1.4 millions and mobile lines 16.3 millions. The audience average share of La7 during 2010 was 3,1% and the daily average of single visitors on Virgilio was 3.7 millions.

Board of Directors

The shareholders’ meeting of April 12, 2011 for three fiscal years appointed the current Board of Directors:

• Chairman and Chief Executive Officer: Franco Bernabè
• Deputy Chairman: Aldo Minucci
• Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer: Marco Patuano
• Director: Lucia Calvosa
• Director: Jean Paul Fitoussi
• Director: Renato Pagliaro
• Director: Luigi Zingales
• Director: Gaetano Miccichè
• Director: Mauro Sentinelli
• Director: Gabriele Galateri di Genola
• Director: Massimo Egidi
• Director: Elio Cosimo Catania
• Director: Tarak Ben Ammar
• Director: Izuel Cesareo Alierta
• Director: Julio Esteban Linares Lopez
• Secretary: Antonino Cusimano

External links

• Official website
• "Probe Forces Telecom Italia to Delay Results", The Wall Street Journal, (23 March 2010)