MILAN (WiMAX Day). The telecoms holding group Weather Investments SpA may seek further investments in WiMAX, according to several sources. The Italy-based investment group headed by Naguib Sawiris owns half of Orascom Telecom and controls the Italian GSM operator Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA, which it acquired last year for $15.6 billion.

A report last week in Milano Finanza noted that Wind may be a surprise bidder in the forthcoming WiMAX spectrum auction in Italy. Wind has made several attempts to acquire broadband and triple-play assets in Italy. The company had made a serious bid to purchase the Italian business of Tele2 AB last month, but lost out to Vodafone which bid € 560 million Euros. According to the Finanza & Mercati, a WiMAX license may be the last opportunity for Wind to offer broadband in Italy without substantial investment.

An Italian WiMAX license may be commensurate with the company’s strategy, as it already has WiMAX expertise. Weather Investments also owns a majority stake in TIM Hellas in Greece, which it acquired earlier this year for $4.4 billion. The acquisition included the subsidiary Q-Telecom which has a national license for 3.5 GHz spectrum in Greece, and is slated to begin a national roll-out of WiMAX in 2008.

CEO Sawiris has openly embraced WiMAX technology. Last year Orascom entered into a joint venture with Intel Capital to promote WiMAX investments in Egypt and the Middle East. Sawiris told Reuters that WiMAX “is the future…. Every time a company loses time to include WiMAX technology, they are either losing an opportunity or living with future failures that they are currently unaware of.”

Sawiris also has voiced opposition to 3G technology, which he has said is a “flop,” and noted in a recent interview with the French financial paper Les Echos that Wind has not spent one Euro cent on 3G investments in Italy. The report said that Orascom would consider an acquisition of the French GSM operator Bouygues if it is for sale, and also has been in discussion with Iliad Group in France to jointly bid on the fourth GSM license in France.

Last week Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited (Mobilink), a subsidiary of Orascom Telecom, announced it will deploy a national WiMAX network and it awarded a contract to Alcatel-Lucent to supply equipment. Mobilink has a license for 3.5 GHz spectrum in Pakistan, and the company intends that it’s network will cover all major cities in Pakistan by the end of next year.

Orascom subsidiaries in Algeria and Tunisia are not offering WiMAX due to lack of spectrum, while in Egypt, GSM operator Mobinil has been testing WiMAX with Motorola in expectation of receiving a license for 3.5 GHz spectrum at auction later this year.

The likelihood of additional WiMAX investments for Weather Investments may depend on its access to capital. The company reportedly has been in discussions with the private equity firms Blackstone Group, Texas Pacific Group and Permira to sell a 30% stake in Weather that would provide funds for acquisitions. However as of last week, the Financial Times reported that the asking price of €2.5 billion Euros was too rich for the private equity groups, who were not willing to go above €2 billion Euros.