Telecom Italia's CEO has addressed criticisms about the company's newly released investment plan, including increasing expenditure (capex) while so heavily indebted.
"We have decided to invest more because the signals coming from the market are very exciting, Marco Patuano told CNBC in an interview that aired on Wednesday.
The investment will be, among other things, in the group's 4G mobile network.
"The difference between a good 4G and not such good 4G is really crucial in order to move the competition away from prices. The competition will have to be on quality. And quality means basically better quality of the data network," Patuano told CNBC.
"It's the right time. So we have to accelerate," Patuano added.