The former Telecom Italia lists the six as Sirti, Sielte, Ceit, Sittel, Valtellina and Site. The deal is part of a procurement optimisation project set out in the company’s strategic plan presented in March. It is expected to result in cost savings as well as efficiencies in the planning and implementation of various orders for the development of the fibre network in Italy, said TIM.
CEO Amos Genish said: “We are particularly satisfied with the agreement signed with our partners, which shows that we are on the right path in implementing our strategic plan which, amongst other things, provides for greater productivity and better services for our customers.”
Most of the partners are little known outside Italy. Sirti says it is an “Italian company that combines the experience of almost a century in the design, construction and maintenance of network infrastructure, [with] solid skills in the creation of managed services, special projects of system integration and smart solutions”. It is building a broadband network for rival company Open Fiber in Palermo.
Sielte – Società Impianti Elettrici e Telefonici Sistema – dates back 90 years and was originally the Italian offshoot of Ericsson. It builds fixed and mobile infrastructure.
Genish said: “With this agreement, the shared path undertaken with our main suppliers will allow TIM and other players in the sector to identify the best industrial strategy for the short and long term.”
TIM has signed contracts starting in 2019 and lasting between three and five years. The deals include both the maintenance and construction of part of the fibre and copper network and the delivery of the service to the end client, said the company.
TIM, which said it now plans agreements with second-tier suppliers, said: “The financial savings for 2018 are confirmed, some of which have already been achieved and will be more evident in the second half of the year mainly through efficiencies and productivity levels that the suppliers will reach.”
The company’s DigiTIM strategy, of which this is part, “is focused on the automation and digitisation of production processes that are already being implemented across TIM’s platforms and that will also be undertaken by suppliers”.
