(Reuters) – Italy is in advanced talks with Elon Musk's SpaceX over a 1.5 billion euro ($1.55 billion) deal for the company to provide secure communications to the government, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday.
The report, citing unnamed sources, said that discussions are ongoing and no final agreement has been reached on the five-year contract, but the project has already been approved by the Italian intelligence services and the Ministry of Defense.
SpaceX and the Italian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment outside normal business hours.
The report said the deal includes SpaceX supplying Italy with a full suite of encryption for phone and internet services used by the government.
She added that this also includes communications services for the Italian Army in the Mediterranean region and the launch of satellite services in Italy for use in emergency situations such as terrorist attacks or natural disasters.
This news comes after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Sunday that she is ready to work with Donald Trump after making a surprise visit to his residence in Mar-a-Lago in Florida to meet with the president-elect before his inauguration on January 20.
Meloni has also built a close relationship with billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk, a close ally of Trump.
Reuters reported last month that Italy plans to begin testing as early as January to see if satellite connectivity provided by Musk's Starlink company represents a viable solution to boost the rollout of high-speed internet in the country.
($1 = 0.9708 euros)
