Sogei case, on Starlink “the government is with you”. The interception that embarrasses Palazzo Chigi

The original article from La Repubblica is behind a paywall, which is why I linked this.

Another one without a paywall where it is understood is This

I summarize what is happening with this strange case:

The government has 3.5 billion of the PNRR to invest in the “Italy 1GB” project to be completed by mid-2026 but (how strange) Italy is late and doesn’t think it will get there in time and therefore see the money disappear etc…

So they think “but why don’t we use Starlink to connect the remaining homes?” And in fact an experiment has already been started.

Break.

In all this there are 3 “key” people: the general director of Sogei (Paolino Iorio), Musk’s right-hand man in Italy (Stroppa), and a naval officer (Masala).

Recovery:

Last year the Italian Army decided to change its satellite communication system, and the hypotheses say that Stroppa bribed this Navy officer to have internal documents (I think about tendering, specifications, etc..) so that we can put StarLink in a privileged position and get, or win, the contract. And they are both under investigation for this.

Continuing on, even if I honestly didn’t fully understand this passage, the director of Sogei, the Italian IT company (to put it simply) turns out – and admits and is caught red-handed – to have taken bribes to favor some projects. From here I think that the magistrates are hypothesizing that, thanks to this corrupt director (perhaps also by Stroppa but I don’t understand if it is one of the hypotheses), he was favoring Musk’s StarLink to cover the remaining homes with broadband for the “Italy” plan 1GB”.

Furthermore, the Italian operators (TIM) were resisting providing useful data for the tender (technical stuff on the bands) to StarLink. StarLink made a complaint, and everything was resolved immediately (I quote from the article because I’m tired of writing 😁):

The dispute was resolved by “technical” mediation by the Ministry of Business, but the new Space law provides that the same ministry in the future defines a framework to ensure compatibility between terrestrial and satellite services.

So the ministry sorted everything out quickly ma added some details to the law:

But in this bill on Space, approved by the Council of Ministers before the summer and now awaiting the process in Parliament, there is another article that could open a door – or a door – to Starlink. This is what requires Italy to equip itself with a satellite “connection reserve”, essentially an emergency system capable of keeping basic civil and military services running in the event that land connections fail due to natural disasters. or conflicts. It is not clear when this service will have to be switched on, but if the tender were held today Starlink would be the big favorite.

And so we return to the first order of the Italian Army.

In all this mess, the magistrates hypothesize that the confidential documents given to Stroppa and the bribes to the director of Sogei were serving precisely to favor StarLink in these tenders.

And hence the phone call now published in La Repubblica from the naval officer who tells Stroppa “the government is with you”.

Well… I hope I have understood correctly and made people understand, this matter is very messed up, at least until more is known.