Italian telcos raided by police
According to reports, the Italian competition authority launched raids Monday on 20 offices belonging to companies that took part in the Italian 3G auction.
The raids in Rome, Milan and Turin are part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of collusion between the telcos.
The Italian auction only lasted two days and ended after the withdrawal of Blu, which was backed by BT. The early finish meant that the auction yielded only £8bn. The Italian government was expecting to raise £15bn. Previous 3G auctions in the UK and Germany raised £22.5bn and £28bn respectively.
A 3G licence allows a mobile network operator to offer high-speed connections to the Internet, allowing applications such as video conferencing and video-streaming to run on mobile phones.
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