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MILAN/ROME, May 11 (Reuters) - Italian power utility Enel has written to the Italian communications regulatoroffering to help with building a nationwide ultrafast broadbandtelecoms network, a move that could bring it into conflict withTelecom Italia.
Enel, which is controlled by the Italian government, wrote aletter to the regulator on April 14 saying its domestic networkcould be used to help install fibre optic cables more cheaply.
"Enel believes it can help develop a key infrastructure forthe future of the country," Enel's head of Italy Carlo Tamburisaid in the letter to AGCOM, which Reuters saw on Monday.
Enel said its contribution would be done "in a synergistic way with what the telecom operators have done and planned",bringing clear benefits to less populated and industrial areas.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is backing a 12 billion-euro($13 billion) project aimed at getting 85 percent of thepopulation connected up to a fibre optic network within sixyears, using Metroweb, a company partly owned by state lenderCassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP).
But that plan has run into disagreements with Telecom Italiaover ownership, technology and the pace of investments, as wellas by uncertain regulations.
Last week Telecom Italia said talks with the governmentabout its plan to buy into Metroweb had not gone in the rightdirection but could be resumed under the right conditions.
On Monday La Repubblica newspaper said in a front-pagearticle that Rome wanted to use Enel to bring the new fibreoptic network under public control.
Telecom Italia's shares were down 1.8 percent at 1.041 eurosby 1539 GMT. Enel's shares were down 0.5 percent at 4.2 euros.
Enel, which is focusing much of its domestic strategy ondeveloping its power distribution grid and smart digitaltechnology, has about 1.2 million km of power lines and 450,000power distribution cabinets across Italy.
The utility, which has 31 million power and gas retailclients in Italy, set up Wind, the third biggest of Italy's fourmobile network operators, which is now owned by Vimpelcom.`
CDP, which owns the government stake in Metroweb, had beenhoping to bring Telecom Italia on board along with other networkoperators including Vodafone, a scenario which theformer national monopoly phone company is not willing to accept. (Writing by Stephen Jewkes and Danilo Masoni; Editing by GregMahlich)
