Telecom Italia chief resigns

Italian operator Telecom Italia has announced that its chairman and CEO Franco Bernabè has resigned from his role.

Bernabè tendered his resignation at a meeting of the operator’s Board of Directors, which will now be chaired by vice president Aldo Minucci.

Telecom Italia’s board expressed its gratitude to Bernabè for “the great commitment and substantial managerial contribution offered over the years spent guiding the company”.

Last month, Telecom Italia’s shareholders struck a deal with Telefónica for the Spanish operator group to gradually increase its stake in the Italian operator, with reports suggesting a potential sale of its Brazilian operations.

The $1.2bn cash and shares deal will allow Telefonica to raise its stake in Telecom Italia holding company Telco, which controls around 22 per cent of Telecom Italia. The deal will pabe the way for Telco’s other investors, Intesa Sanpaolo, Generali and Mediobanca to eventually bow out.

Bernabè remains chairman of the GSMA, the operator trade association confirmed.

Recently, Bernabè spoke at the GSMA’s Mobile 360 event in Brussels and said that deals such as Vodafone’s sale of its Verizon stake and Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia suggest that Europe is no longer a leading region in the telecoms sector.

He stressed that in order to get Europe back in the driving seat of innovation, policy makers and industry stakeholders must work together. He called for a “clear long term vision, coupled with clear, predictable and stable policy decisions”.