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Italy: Rising number of interceptions set to exceed capacity

01 January 2005

An official from the security department of Tim (the leading Italian mobile telephone service provider, with a 43% share of the market) faxed a letter to the justice ministry and to prosecutors’ offices all over Italy on 19 February 2005, to let them know that the constant increase in the “activation of telephone interceptions”, has meant that the maximum number of lines that it can use for interceptions (5,000) are already being used. Telephone service providers are obliged by law to execute interception orders, and Tim thus informed justice officials of its inability to do so if the current trend of rising numbers of interception orders continues. Delays will be inevitable, and interception orders will be executed in chronological order once some lines are freed up. Twenty lines have been reserved for the Direzione Nazionale Antimafia (DNA), to be used in emergencies or particularly serious cases. The company has begun a feasibility study to increase the number of lines that can be intercepted by 2,000, reaching a total of 7,000. Although the problem currently affects one mobile telephone service provider, albeit the largest one, two other companies (Wind and Vodafone) have also warned that they are reaching the limits of their interception capacity, and some authorities argue that this practice is out of control. The justice minister, Roberto Castelli from the Lega Nord (Northern League), explained that “I have figures that show that there is an explosion in the number of interceptions” and that “the number of interceptions doubles every two years”, as they have passed from 32,000 in 2001 to 77,000 in 2003, and may have approached 100,000 in 2004. Nonetheless, Castelli argued that limiting interceptions is a very delicate issue as it interferes with the constitutional principle that criminal investigations are compulsory when an offence is reported or discovered. The cost of telephone interceptions for the Italian state in 2004 is estimated to be 300 million euro.

CiberPaís 10.3.2005; Il Sole 24 ore, 20.2.2005; Rai news 24, 19.2.2005; Repubblica 19.2.2005.