TELEFONICA MOVILES LODGES COMPLAINT AGAINST ITALY WITH COMMISSION.

• Position: Cases against Italian government - Brief Article

On February 20, the leading Spanish mobile telephone operator, Telefonica Moviles, confirmed that it had lodged a complaint with the European Commission against the Italian Government over its investment in a UMTS licence purchase in Italy. This complaint was lodged by the IPSE 2000 SpA consortium (in which Telefonica Moviles has a 45.6% stake), a bidder for third-generation mobile telephones in Italy, according to a spokesman for the Spanish operator to the financial news agency, AFX (an AFP subsidiary), confirming a report published by the Madrid newspaper Cinco Dias. When putting out the UMTS licence to tender, the Italian Government suggested to candidates the possibility of exploiting special frequencies, and the IPSE consortium accepted. But Telefonica Moviles had already announced that it had put all its UMTS projects in Europe on ice, with the exception of...