Investimenti pubblici e poteri privati nelle infrastrutture per le telecomunicazioni

Following privatization, few sectors have experienced a rapid and massive return of public intervention as the telecommunications sector. This article examines the extension to telecommunications infrastructures (including – and especially – private ones) of a special legal status, modeled on institutions typically associated with administrative law (declarations of public utility, expropriation powers, limitations on public procurement requirements, classification as primary urbanization works, and limits on profits). These measures have the potential to distort the market, consolidating in the hands of certain operators a form of power that is no longer merely de facto, but is strengthened by a series of legal powers and prerogatives.