Naguib Sawiris, the Egyptian telecommunications tycoon, said last Saturday that he was still interested in obtaining a stake in Telecom Italia. Should the Italian government opposed his bid, then he may be discouraged to pursue his plans.

Sawiris made these statements in an emailed statement to Reuters. He said he was considering a 'potential investment in Telecom Italia' but may not submit an proposal eventually 'in view of (Italy's)... alleged preference for Telefonica in the Italian press.'

Telecom Italia was the first of many takeover possibilities as the shake up of the telecommunications sector gets underway. This was projected to occur in light of the Verizon Communications buyout of Vodafone from their wireless venture to the tune of USD130 billion.

On September 19, the board of directors of the Italian firm would meet and in the agenda would be how to move the company forward. One of the avenues being considered is a change in the current shareholder structure.