Enel S p A : Stalemate over Italy's single network project needs to be overcome - minister

ROME (Reuters) - The stalemate over Italy's plans to create a single national broadband network is not helpful and urgent clarification is needed on whether the project is feasible, Industry Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Wednesday.

Italy's government under former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has been trying to create a full-fibre national network by merging Open Fiber, a small broadband operator owned by state lender CDP and utility Enel, with the landline grid assets of Telecom Italia, in which CDP also holds a stake.

New Prime Minister Mario Draghi has put digital infrastructure at the heart of his government's agenda but has yet to clarify whether he intends to implement the unified network project and under what terms.

"This stalemate must be overcome and the state as shareholder of the companies involved has a responsibility to make a quick proposal on the matter," Giorgetti told a parliamentary hearing.

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, writing by Agnieszka Flak, editing by Maria Pia Quaglia)