U.S. ambassador to Italy visits Telecom Italia headquarters

[February 20, 2019]   ROME (Reuters) - The U.S. ambassador to Italy, Lewis Eisenberg, visited the Rome headquarters of Italian phone group Telecom Italia on Wednesday, a Reuters witness said.

U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee for ambassador to Italy Lewis Eisenberg testifies at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on his nomination on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. July 20, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

The U.S embassy and Telecom Italia declined to comment when asked if the visit was related to U.S. demands that its European allies do not use technology supplied by China's Huawei International.

Huawei, the world's biggest producer of telecoms equipment, faces international scrutiny over its ties with the Chinese government and suspicion Beijing could use its technology for spying -- something the company has denied.

Ambassador Eisenberg made no comment at the end of the visit, which lasted for around 30 minutes.

(Reporting by Alberto Sisto, writing by Giselda Vagnoni, editing by Silvia Aloisi)

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.