TIM ups guidance following controversial DAZN deal

While its deal with DAZN continues to be contested by its rival telcos, Telecom Italia (TIM) has increased its revenue guidance.

In a statement published online, TIM said that the agreement with DAZN “implies an acceleration” of its forecasted revenue in 2022-23 to mid-single digit growth, compared to previous guidance of low single digit growth. 

The operator also revised its EBITDA guidance to mid single digit growth, up from the established guidance of low to mid single digit growth. 

While celebrating the DAZN deal to complement distribution agreements with the likes of Disney+, Discovery, Mediaset Infinity, Netflix and Amazon, TIM said that expected benefits from the Resilience and Recovery Fund on the domestic market and from Oi mobile assets acquisition with Vivo and Claro, are not yet factored in the guidance.

TIM also said that it saw stabilisation in its fixed line segment during the quarter with strong growth in the fibre market and reduced mobile churn.

While the announcement is positive for TIM, the operator is in the midst of legal challenges to its deal with DAZN. 

Last month, Sky Italia launched a formal legal challenge to the partnership which ensures that TIM is the only telco that can offer customers a subscription to DAZN. That was met by the opening of a formal probe from Italy’s antitrust regulator, which will evaluate whether the deal could limit competitive development in the fixed retail, wholesale broadband services, mobile telecommunications and pay TV markets.