Italy is in advanced talks with Elon Musk’s SpaceX for a deal to provide secure telecommunications for the nation’s government — the largest such project in Europe, people with knowledge of the matter said, Report informs via Bloomberg.
Discussions are ongoing, and a final agreement on the five-year contract hasn’t been reached, said the people, who asked not to be identified citing confidential discussions. The project has already been approved by Italy’s Intelligence Services as well as Italy’s Defense Ministry, they said.
The negotiations, which had stalled until recently, appeared to move forward after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited President-elect Donald Trump in Florida on Saturday.
Italian officials have been negotiating on a $1.6 billion deal aimed at supplying Italy with a full range of top-level encryption for telephone and Internet services used by the government, the people said.