[telecom] in Italy, a telco local exchange auctioned on eBay

This came through today on a Network Neutrality mailing list I'm on (NNSQuad

Subject: [ NNSquad ] in Italy, a telco local exchange auctioned on eBay From: Stefano Quintarelli Date: Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:36:32 +0100 in Italy, an incumbent's telco local exchange is being auctioned on eBay is someone aware of a similar auction anywhere in the world or is this a first time ? The previous management of Telecom Italia (Italy's incumbent and (still) one of the largest 5-6 telcos wordlwide) sold local exchange's buildings to a real estate fund, participated by some of the most well-known international investment banks (very present in the press in the last months). The properties are rented by Telecom Italia (quite obviously). The (relative) majority shareholder of Telecom Italia was a company controlled by Pirelli (the tyre manufacturer) and the controlling shareholder of Pirelli was also the chairman of Telecom Italia. Pirelli then sold their ownerships of Telecom Italia and therefore he stepped down from chairmanship. The real estate fund entered an agreement with Pirelli Real Estate, the real estate branch of Pirelli. Now, the local agency of Pirelli RE is auctioning on eBay the Exchange of Pula, a popular holiday resort in Sardinia -- blog.quintarelli.it