WhenI addressed the 2007 Telecom Shareholders Meeting, the then Managing Director Carlo Buora threatened to press legal charges against me (I never heard anything further). This time around, the current MD, Franco Bernabè, responded. If nothing else, at least this is a major step forward. Unfortunately, however, through no fault of Mr. Bernabè, it’s a case of too little too late. Not even Superman would be able to save telecom from the fate of being merged into some or other foreign Group. Small, deep in debt, in a Country without infrastructure, where broadband has been replaced by terrestrial digital technology by engineers and dancing girls and a Government that doesn’t have the foggiest idea about the future. A Country where an almost octogenarian like Gianni Letta has blocked 800-million Euro of previously authorised funding aimed at reducing the digital divide that separates us from the rest of Europe and places us on a par with Greece. Bernabè made certain comments with regard to the destruction of value caused by the Offer to purchase with debt, which he didn’t want to accept, and that is why he was forced out (for which I give him full credit). However, he seems to have forgotten the name of the person responsible for what was possibly the worst political/business decision ever made in the period after the war: Massimo D'Alema (the then Chairman of the Board), as well as all those that, following his decision, proceeded to line their own pockets at the company’s expense. Now we are bottom of the list in terms of telecommunications when compared to any of the Countries that actually matter, my dear Mr. Bernabè and, since I travel the world and live in Italy, I can confirm that Italy doesn’t have any network of excellence. If possible, please broadcast the proceedings of the next Shareholders Meeting via live streaming on the Telecom portal, . Last Thursday, the only information in this regard that went out live were a number of mesages on Twitter, while the only thing on the company’s website was Ms. Hunziker advertising spot. I thank nevertheless you for your response. Beppe Grillo.

Letter from Franco Bernabè.
"There is one thing that I am pleased about, my dear Mr. Grillo, namely that you and I, and fortunately many others are well aware of the fact that Telecom Italia, above all, is the driving infrastructure for the future of this Country. However, I cannot agree with you on certain other matters, as I mentioned yesterday when responding to your address at the Shareholders Meeting. Since you left immediately after completing your address, so it seems only proper for me to respond on your blog, where a summary of your address yesterday has been posted.
What I said yesterday is that there is no funeral to be held because Telecom is not dead. It is wounded, without a doubt, and much of the company’s value has indeed been stripped out in the past ten years, so it is unsurprising that I battled right to the very end to prevent the Offer to purchase with debt. However, the result we posted show that this important company can indeed be put back on track, in the interest of its employees, its shareholders and the Italian public in general.
We have no intention, nor has it ever been our intention to give up our best engineers and IT experts, and we are not in fact getting of any specialists that are essential to the Company’s future. We are merely creating more rational structures so as to enable us to become a company of the future. Rationalisation of structures and skills, which, I assure you, will be very different from those that the market has demanded to date. And while some of the other operators that you mentioned have their hands full trying to manage the imposing geographic empires that we no longer have, albeit having to now create the conditions necessary for a re-launch, we are nevertheless better equipped than most to face the new challenges that everyone knows are lying ahead in an interconnected and digital world.
Those dividends that you claim should not be paid to shareholders in companies with a heavy burden of debt are now sustainable and have indeed been cut by two thirds since I joined the company. The network is not a sieve, as you claim, but statistics show that it is indeed a network of excellence (and you who travels the world should be the first to recognise this), while our investments, which are very real and highly significant, are continuing to contribute to the improvement of our quality indicators, as certified by the Authority for the sector, and the expansion of the network to all of the Country’s citizens.
That for which you state we are bottom of the list in Europe is not the access to broadband, but rather broadband utilisation by families, schools, companies and public administrations. The stimulation of demand, which mainly starts from the computerisation of the Public Administration, has already begun with the recent introduction of Certified Electronic Mail, and we are with you in hoping that the process will be quick and productive for everyone.
Finally, as regards your long diatribe on the accountability for previous financial years and the question of what happened to the revenues resulting from the numerous sales, which you claim is unknown, I have always said that it is the Magistrature’s duty to deal with any crimes, however, I am a manager, not a policeman, and I have always done my best with what I was given. The Magistrature, which has far more probing means than the company has, seems to be spending a lot of time looking into what happened within Telecom Italia in past years. We can only rely on those who should, and do know how to do their job, something which, to all intents and purposes, they are indeed doing already.
My door is always open to you and the visitors to your important blog, and I am more than willing to constructively discuss any matters that will contribute towards creating a digital culture in our Country."
Yours in friendship, Franco Bernabè