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**EXHIBIT 12(a)**

 

**Certification by the Executive Chairman of TIM S.p.A.**

 

I, Arnaud Roy De Puyfontaine, certify that: 

 
 1.I have reviewed this annual report on Form 20-F of TIM S.p.A.; 
 
 2.Based on my knowledge, this annual report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statementsmade, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this annual report; 
 
 3.Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this annual report, fairly present in all material respects the financialcondition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this annual report; 
 
 4.The company’s other certifying officers and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and we have: 
 
 (a)designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision to ensure that materialinformation relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this annual report is being prepared; 
 
 (b)designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to providereasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles; 
 
 (c)evaluated the effectiveness of the company’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of thedisclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and 
 
 (d)disclosed in this report any change in the company’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the period covered by the annual report thathas materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the company’s internal control over financial reporting; and 
 
 5.The company’s other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to thecompany’s auditors and the audit committee of the company’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): 
 
 (a)all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the company’sability to record, process, summarize and report financial data and have identified for the company’s auditors any material weaknesses in internal controls; and 
 
 (b)any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the company’s internal control over financialreporting. 
 
By: /S/ ARNAUD ROY DE PUYFONTAINE**Name: Arnaud Roy De Puyfontaine****Title: Executive Chairman**
 

April 16, 2018 
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