Private company

SIP

Logo: Telecom Italia S.p.A. - Società Italiana per l'Esercizio Telefonico, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

Italian telecommunications company, 1964–1994

Società Italiana per l'Esercizio Telefonico S.p.A. (formerly Società Idroelettrica Piemontese S.p.A.), commonly known as SIP or SIPTEL, was the Italian state-owned telecommunications company, which dealt with public, fixed and mobile telephony. In 1994 it became Telecom Italia S.p.A.2 It is part of Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

Oct 29, 1964Founded1
  • Industrytelecommunications industry1
  • HeadquartersTurin1
  • Founded inTorino1
  • Legal formstate-owned enterprise1

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Palazzo elettricità Torino facciata
Photo: Valeria Mosca (P900), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

Società Italiana per l'Esercizio Telefonico S.p.A. (formerly Società Idroelettrica Piemontese S.p.A.), commonly known as SIP or SIPTEL, was the Italian state-owned telecommunications company, which dealt with public, fixed and mobile telephony.2

Corporate structure

SIP is part of a group headed by Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale. 138 entities, 13 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Founded by SET, SIP, STIPEL, TELVE, TETI and TIMO on Oct 29, 1964, in Turin.1

In 1964, the energy assets of Società Idroelettrica Piemontese (SIP), founded in 1918, was nationalized into Enel; it then acquired all of the Italian telephone companies, becoming Società Italiana per l'Esercizio Telefonico (SIP). It was run by the Italian Ministry of Finance.. SIP was a state monopoly from 1964 to 1996 and Italians were required to pay the "Canone Telecom," a line rental fee of approximately €120 per year., plus hardware rental and other minor costs) in order to have a phone at home.

On 27 July 1994, by the merger of several telecommunications companies among which SIP, IRITEL, Italcable, Telespazio and SIRM (companies owned by STET), Telecom Italia was born. This was due to a reorganization plan for the telecommunications sector presented by IRI to the Minister of Finance.

From Wikipedia’s article on SIP (company), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

  • landline telephone
  • mobile telephony
  • payphone

Listed on Wikidata.1

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

Owners

From Wikidata.1

Acquisitions

  1. Succeeded SIP1
  2. Succeeded by TIM Group1

Timeline

  1. Jul 27, 1994Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1985Renamed Name changed to Società Italiana per l'Esercizio delle Telecomunicazioni p.A.1
  3. Oct 29, 1964Founded Founded in Torino1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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