Fastweb and TI Sparkle have avoided the spectre of being placed under special administration, but only on condition Fastweb’s CEO and COO are suspended.
The two Italian service providers were scheduled to attend a court hearing this week to decide whether a special commissioner should be appointed to run them, but agreed several conditions that means they can remain independent, Reuters reports.
Both firms issued brief statements on Friday stating that the preliminary hearing scheduled for April 7 had been cancelled. However, Fastweb claims that CEO Stefano Parisi stepped aside voluntarily, while COO Alberto Calcagno would stay in his role.
Parisi will temporarily take up a similar role within Fastweb parent Swisscom, and will be replaced by Swisscom CEO Carsten Schloter, Fastweb stated.
The decision not to appoint a special administrator means TI Sparkle’s parent Telecom Italia should now be clear to report 2009 results on April 12, after it twice delayed finalising the results to allow Sparkle’s board to prepare for the court case.
TI Sparkle and Fastweb vehemently deny collaborating in a €300 million tax fraud and money laundering scam, involving the sale of phantom broadband services.