Telecom Italia

1925–64: Stipel company and early mandatory phone tax

In 1925, the phone network was reorganised by Benito Mussolini cabinet and Stipel company was established in the same year. The original core of Telecom Italia includes also 4 more different companies: TIMO, Teti, TELVE and SET. Each of them worked in a specific geographical area. It was in 1964 that these companies merged in one single group, under the name of SIP.

1964–94: SIP - Società Italiana per l'Esercizio Telefonico

In 1964, Società Idroelettrica Piemontese (SIP), a former energy company founded in 1918, ceased producing energy and acquired all of the Italian telephone companies, becoming SIP - Società Italiana per l'Esercizio Telefonico. It was run by the Italian Ministry of Finance.

SIP was a state monopoly from 1964 to 1996 and Italian people had to pay the "Canone Telecom" (Mandatory Telecom Tax of about €120 per year plus hardware and bills) in order to have a phone at home.

1994–2005: Telecom Italia, Telecom Italia Mobile and DSL services

Telecom Italia was officially created on 27 July 1994 by the merger of several telecommunication companies among which SIP, Iritel, Italcable, Telespazio and Sirm. This was due to a plan of reorganization of the telecommunication sector presented by IRI to the Minister of Finance.

In 1995, the mobile telephony division was spun off as TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile). Interbusiness, Italy’s largest Internet network, was created and in the same period with TIN (Telecom Italia Net) and the first ISPs, Internet became a reality in Italy too. In 1996, TIM introduced a new prepaid rechargeable phone card (GSM) and one year later launched the short messaging service (SMS) capability.In 1997, under the chairmanship of Guido Rossi, Telecom Italia was privatised and was transformed into a large multimedia group.

By 2001, the company was in debt and was bought by Marco Tronchetti Provera. The following year, the Group released its DSL Flat service in Italy, Alice ADSL, with a download speed of 32 kbit/s and an upload speed of 8 kbit/s for €40/month plus a monthly based tax of €14.57, the "Canone Telecom", besides the mandatory monthly bills for the home telephone numbers (without a home telephone number you couldn't get the ADSL service). Telecom Italia Media, the Group's multimedia company was formed in 2003 from Seat Pagine Gialle, focussing its business on the television sector with La7 and MTV channels.

After the reorganization of editorial activities, in 2005 Telecom Italia acquired Tin.it and Virgilio from Telecom Italia Media. The Telecom Italia Group also operates in South America: in Brazil as TIM Brasil, and in Argentina and Paraguay with Telecom Argentina Group. TIM Brasil has its local headquarters in Rio de Janeiro.

2005–14: Telecom Italia Spa bought by Telefónica

Telecom Italia had bigger debts in 2005, and, one year later, CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera resigned.

In 2007 the company was bought by "Telco" (composed by Telefónica and several Italian banks). Telefónica currently owns 46% of Telco, the holding company that controls 22% of Telecom Italia.

In late 2013, Telefónica announced its intention to acquire the entirety of Telco by January 2014, potentially becoming Telecom Italia's largest shareholder. The plan, however, is being challenged by the Brazilian competition authority since Telefónica and Telecom Italia, with Vivo and TIM respectively, are the two largest telephone companies competing in Brazil.

2015: Rebrand

In 2015, Telecom Italia Group started a rebranding process of the telephony and mobile businesses under the single TIM brand.

In the same year, the Board of Directors approved the new company's division, the Infrastrutture Wireless Italiane, or INWIT, which operates 11,500 wireless towers.

It was revealed in October 2015 that shareholders Vivendi would raise their stakes further in the company from its current level of 15.49%.

Telecom Italia Mobile illegal charging money for "free" Internet providing renewals

Telecom Italia Mobile illegally charged money for Internet providing renew subscriptions for 5 years to its customers during the "free" subscription renewals.

Fraud in Brazilian prepaid mobile lines

On 8 August 2012, TIM Brasil became involved in a massive scandal in Brazilian news after the release of report by the Brazilian National Telecommunications Agency Anatel.

The report points that on TIM's prepaid voice plan (24.7% market share), called "Infinity" (in which the user pays roughly US$0.12 for each unlimited time call), the calls were intentionally dropped by the company, forcing the customers to make (and pay for) new calls to keep talking. In just one day, 8.1 million calls were dropped and the total profit was approximately $2 million. Upon release of the report, the Public Ministry of the Paraná State filed a lawsuit against TIM asking that it stop selling new mobile lines in Brasil and pay a multimillion-dollar fine for the damages against consumers.

Operations

The Telecom Italia Group provides phone landline services and mobile services in Italy, GSM mobile phone services in Italy and Brazil through its TIM subsidiary, (TIM Brasil), and DSL internet and telephony services in Italy and San Marino. It also operates in international telecommunication services, for other operators and corporations, through its subsidiary Telecom Italia Sparkle. In 2013, the total amount of the company's debt is about 26 billions €.

Telecom Italia controls also Olivetti, a manufacturer of computer peripherals and mobile phones. On March 31, 2014, Telecom Italia leads both the direct fixed access lines market with 62,0% and the mobile “postpaid” segment with 45% of market share. In the mobile “prepaid” segment Telecom Italia owns 31,5% of market share together with Vodafone.

After the merger of Wind and 3 Italia, approved on August 6, 2015, Telecom Italia is now the second country’s largest carrier with 30 million customers, followed by Vodafone (25 millions), but it preserves its leadership on the direct fixed access lines market and the mobile “postpaid” segment. Telecom Italia has 66,025 employees.

Sustainability

In 2002, Telecom Italia subscribed to the United Nations corporate responsibility initiative Global Compact. It is also 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.

Telecom Italia promotes a sustainability strategy including both environmental and social issues: on June 2014 it signed an agreement with A2A to buy energy only from renewable sources.