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ROME, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Telecom Italia's plannedacquisition of fibre-optic network operator Metroweb would bepossible under very stringent conditions, Italy's competitionwatchdog AGCM said on Tuesday.
The former phone monopoly, which owns Italy's largesttelecoms infrastructure, said last week it had sent a proposalto buy a controlling stake in Metroweb, as it seeks to boostinvestment in faster networks.
"Such a move would merit a particularly serious evaluation,"AGCM Chairman Giovanni Pitruzzella said at a conference in Rome.
He did not elaborate on what kind of measures couldeventually be imposed, although neither AGCM nor the Italiancommunications regulator AGCOM were currently looking into it.
A spokesman for the F2i infrastructure fund that owns acontrolling stake in Metroweb said last week some investors hadexpressed interest in the firm but it had not started any formalsale procedure.
Earlier in November, Vodafone Chief ExecutiveVittorio Colao signalled its interest in Metroweb, which someanalysts have valued at around 400 million euros ($500 million).(1 US dollar = 0.8021 euro) (Reporting by Alberto Sisto, writing by Danilo Masoni; editingby Keiron Henderson)
Vodafone (VOD)
