Asstel – Assotelecomunicazioni rejects the accusations of Luigi De Siervo, CEO of Lega Serie A, with respect to one alleged tolerance of the phenomenon of piracy by telecommunications operators. “We are amazed by the statements of the Lega Serie A leaders on telecommunications operators which we completely reject – comments the president of Asstel, Massimo Sarmi-. It should be remembered that since 2013 Italy, thanks to the initiative of the Communications Authority and the active collaboration of the Operators, has equipped itself with tools that allow it to intervene to block the illicit transmission of content. This activity has been carried out effectively for about 10 years without any compensation for the costs incurred”.
“Broadcasting live events – goes on Sarmi – raises new points of attention and we believe that to eliminate piracy, even in this new form, a renewed collective action and an organic law are needed. Recently, in a hearing before the Joint Commissions VII (Culture, science and education) and IX (Transport, post and telecommunications) of the Chamber of Deputies, we shared and reaffirmed the need for a repressive action that takes into account the specific roles of the actors involved .
In particular, Asstel has proposed a centralized public platform that can automate and speed up the blocking of the online use of “pirated” content as much as possible, in compliance with fundamental rights and general principles of the legal system, starting from the role of the Operators, relieved by responsibilities deriving from these operations, as required by European and national legislation. Furthermore, as foreseen by the bills presented in Parliament on the specific matter, it is necessary to strengthen the powers of the authorities in charge and of the communication campaigns aimed at end users, in order to make them more aware of the damage that the whole community receives.
He concluded Sarmi: “The dramatic increase in traffic due to digital services (equal to +104% in mobile and +430% in fixed from 2015-21), in which piracy has a minor weight, has required Telcos to make continuous investments, the benefits of which have been passed on to end customers in terms of usable data quantity and transmission speed: from 2015 to 2021, telecommunications operators have invested , not counting the payment for 5G licenses, 49.5 billion euros, in absolute value, with annual investments steadily above 6 billion and exceeding 7 billion euros from 2017 to today, despite the difficult economic situation.”
CS