The Italian government supports the takeover of Vodafone by Swisscom

As the Swiss telecommunications company announced on Tuesday, the Italian government has given unconditional consent to the takeover of Vodafone Italia by Swisscom.

Swisscom’s €8 billion ($8.7 billion) takeover of Vodafone Italia aims to combine the company with Italian subsidiary Fastweb. The move is part of ongoing consolidation efforts in Europe’s highly competitive telecommunications markets.

With this transaction, the Swiss telecommunications giant will become the second largest fixed broadband operator in Italy, with a strong position in both the business and mobile segments, behind TIM, the leading Italian telecommunications service provider.