The Telecom Italia group ‘exercised [its] pre-emption right’ to a counter offer for the contract to build the NSH, already awarded to Aruba and Fastweb
A group led by Telecom Italia parent TIM Group announced it has exercised its option to make a counter bid to Italy’s government for the creation of the Polo Strategico Nazionale, or National Strategic Hub (NSH). Led by the Italian government’s digital innovation ministry, the NSH is intended to shore up national data security, and to act as a digital transformation accelerator for public administration throughout the country.
The Italian government earmarked €900 million (US$915.58 million) for the effort, which yielded three proposals. TIM joined Italian investment bank CDP, aerospace and defense contractor Leonardo, and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance-owned IT business Sogei to present the proposal that the Italian government ultimately chose as the template for the NSH.
The government put out a call for tenders in late December 2021, with the expectation that work on the NSH would commence in the second half of 2022. In June, the Italian government awarded the contract to regional web hosting service Aruba S.p.A. and broadband service provider Fastweb in late June, which it said provided the most competitive bid.
Basta, said Telecom Italia.
“The promoter has exercised the pre-emption right within the 15-day period provided for by law (paragraph 15 of article 183, of the Public Contracts Code, expressly referred to in the tender regulations), undertaking to fulfil [sic] the contractual obligations under the same conditions offered by the current provisional contractor, as communicated to the Administration,” reads a statement posted to the TIM website.
The Italian government has showcased NSH as one of “three fundamental pillars” when it comes to modernizing and digitizing its public administration sector. The government has also proposed a certification process for public cloud providers wishing to do business with Italian government entities, to help make sure they provide adequate national data security, as well as reliable service. The third pillar is the classification of data and services managed by public administrations in Italy. This process is meant to streamline that data uptake to the most appropriate cloud solution, either NSH or qualified public cloud.
NSH notwithstanding, TIM’s relationships with American hyperscale companies continues to grow. In mid-June, Google Cloud announced its expansion into Italy through a local partnership with TIM. The new Milan region launched with three cloud zones, and Google Cloud’s standard services.
TIM’s Chief Enterprise and Innovative Solutions Officer Elio Schiavo called the new Google Cloud joint effort the inauguration of a “strategic infrastructure” that promised to boost economic growth in the Lombardy and Piedmont regions. Google Cloud has also announced plans to expand its Italian footprint with a second region in Turin.
