I am confused and concerned has not hidden Romano Prodi

Five years after repeated Telecom Italia, Marco Tronchetti Provera loose the bar of the incumbent operator. Forced and forced, the pattern of Pirelli remains the reference shareholder of the telecoms giant, but ceded the Presidency to lawyer Guido Rossi in full strategic float. Since the financial crisis of Fiat in 2002, it is probably the more bad news for the famous "aggiornamento" of capitalism without capital Italian.

Marco Tronchetti Provera, that is, five years ago, as the "new Agnelli", today pay ambiguities of its position as the shareholder - manager in a country where the collusion with politics necessary expose to a clear risk in alternation. Guilty of having too comfortably cohabited with the berlusconien power, it is subjected to suspicion of the Prodi government. Partly rightly.

The strategic error of the "industrial Tronchetti" and the choice of Guido Rossi, counsel for the desperate causes or for the less sensitive, have concerns about, precisely. Among the independent who sit on the Board of Telecom Italia, the economist Jean-Paul Fitoussi ensures that this resignation will change nothing to the policy of the operator. But what policy is it, given that it has already changed three times in Cape Town in five years

The origin of the clash with the Prodi government: intend to Marco Tronchetti Provera to sacrifice its mobile branch TIM to the highest bidder, without saying it explicitly. To steer the famous dogma of fixed-mobile convergence based on the development of accessible services indiscriminately from fixed or mobile phones! Under pressure from its partner Benetton, Pirelli is now prepared to sacrifice its mobile operator TIM, his cow to milk representing about 50 of its operating margin, to become a true "content platform" with support from Rupert Murdoch. A 180 degree turn for the fifth European telecoms operator, who has spent his time to promote synergies between fixed and mobile since 2004.

In support of its reversal, the ex-patron of Telecom Italia relied on its commitment to transform his group into "media company" in drawing on English BT, which developed in the stock market its mobile division as early as 2001. The problem is that the previous date and that BT is betting on convergence in re-emerging a virtual mobile operator. Another form resurfaced the myth of convergence "containers-content", which has already cost if Vivendi or AOL-Time Warner. In itself, there is nothing necessarily scandalous or heretical.

The recent history of telecoms is populated with trial and error and reversals. But need to understand the real motives of a manoeuvre that looks more like a final desperate attempt to retain control of a group detained through a cascade of holdings to a real Flash of lucidity industrial.

"The reorganization of Telecom Italia is a way to become more competitive and to enjoy greater financial flexibility," says Marco Tronchetti Provera. But the market has not retained the conversion of Telecom Italia in "media company" and the next sale of TIM to the highest bidder. Boss of Telecom Italia, it is the way to focus on the development of broadband services which has become the top priority of operators. For many observers, this is a finding of failure of its industrial strategy.

The problem is not so much the overall indebtedness of Telecom Italia. Although it remains high, at EUR 41.3 billion at June 30, 2006 (against 35.8 billion in 2002), it is relatively comparable to that of its main European competitors. But it is especially the indebtedness of the intermediate holdings (Camfin, Pirelli & Co, Olimpia) today forced the pattern of Pirelli to revise its plans to retain control of the group. The eventual surrender of TIM (valued between 35 and 40 billion euros) is the last playable card to erase the debt and give breath to the title of Telecom Italia, which fell 4 to 2.2 euros in five years.

"I am confused and concerned", has not hidden Romano Prodi. After the resumption of Omnitel Vodafone, that of Wind by the Egyptian Naguib Sawiris, and the breakthrough of Chinese H3G (Hutchison Wampoa) in the peninsula, the idea that the Italy can still lose control of its last great mobile for the benefit of Deutsche Telekom operator or Telefonica is balloting. PIs: nine years after the privatization of Telecom Italia and its acrobatic recovery group Olivetti of Roberto Colaninno in 1999, Romano Prodi's Government is a very bad eye the prospect of the dismantling of one of the first Italian industrial groups, under the guise of conversion in broadband and media...

"As often in Italy, the problem of Telecom Italia is not strictly speaking industrial.". "The problem is the lack of sufficiently strong, stable and strategic capital within the chain of control," noted the Minister of economic development Pierluigi Bersani. It cannot be more clear. Seven years after the hostile OPA of Roberto Colaninno on Telecom Italia which was to relieve the Italian operator with the threat of a merger with Deutsche Telekom the announced Italian capitalism revolution turns the flop. Without having clarified its strategy and mixed genres, the reference shareholder of Telecom Italia is hardly able to ensure its development. The industrial strategy does not have much to do with his recent arbitrations.