Poste Italiane to develop new 70 MW data centre in AI push (updated)

Telecom Italia

24/07/2026 11:57

Updates with details
MILAN, July 24 (Reuters) - Poste Italiane PST.MI plans to develop a 70 megawatts data centre in the northern Lombardy region as part of a plan to create a large hub to run AI models at scale, the head of Italy's state-backed financial conglomerate said on Friday.
Poste's 13 billion euro ($15.3 billion) bid for Telecom Italia (TIM) TLIT.MI comes as European telecoms groups step up investment in AI infrastructure for strategic industries such as defence and healthcare.
Poste, which already owns a 20% stake in TIM, has been supporting the telecoms group in data centre projects, including a 20-megawatt facility, Chief Executive Matteo Del Fante told analysts on a post-results call.
Del Fante said the site, power supplier and financing for the larger project had already been identified, with support from Italy's major banks.
Europe trails the United States in AI investment and infrastructure, while Italy faces an additional hurdle in the form of significantly higher energy costs than France and Spain.
With 125 megawatts of installed data centre capacity, TIM is among Italy's top three operators. However, the country's total installed capacity is only about 15% of Germany's.
    
    
    
    



 (Reporting by Elvira Pollina, editing by Alvise Armellini)
 ((elvira.pollina@thomsonreuters.com;))