Fastweb and Open Fiber have signed a reciprocity agreement on optical fiber. Based on the agreement, Fastweb will be able to use the FTTH connections created by Open Fiber in areas not covered by its infrastructure. The agreement covers the entire national territory and in particular 80 cities not yet reached by Fastweb's FTTH fiber optic network as well as the white areas or those market failure areas in which Open Fiber has won the concessions to build the FTTH network for Infratel account.
Open Fiber in turn will be able to purchase from Fastweb – still in wholesale mode – the use of fiber infrastructures functional to the creation of its own network.
This was communicated by the company controlled 50% each by Enel and CDP. The usual declarations follow with which Alberto Calcagno, CEO of Fastweb, and Elisabetta Ripa, CEO of Open Fiber comment with satisfaction on the agreement reached. The truth is that the agreement between the two groups is particularly significant since Fastweb had previously signed a similar agreement with Tim which gave rise to the birth of the joint company Flash Fiber (80% Tim and 20% Fastweb), created to create a FTTH fiber-only network to be used for one's own needs but also to be resold to other operators in the event of a surplus. Flash Fiber declares coverage in 29 Italian cities and 3 million homes reached but Open Fiber, after some initial delays, is going very fast: “The concessions signed in 2017 – explained the Ad Ripa in a hearing to the Chamber – are been hampered by 13 appeals. In one semester we made up for lost time. In 6 months we have connected a thousand municipalities and 1 million real estate units and activated the first customers". “In 2019 we will open another 2000 construction sites which will add up to the 1.000 already open”. The program envisages 6,5 billion of investments over the period of the plan.
Hence the agreement with Fastweb assumes particular importance, after those already reached with Vodafone and Wind-Tre. “The agreement represents an important piece of our strategy to offer our customers the best connectivity: in addition to developing an important expansion of our proprietary ultra-broadband network – through the new 5G Fixed Wireless Access technology, in areas not reached by our FTTC, FTTH and FWA infrastructures, we will also have the possibility of using the connectivity created by Open Fiber”, comments Alberto Calcagno.
Elisabetta Ripa in turn observes that “the strategic agreement with Fastweb further expands Open Fiber's portfolio of commercial partnerships, confirming the validity of the wholesale-only model which offers access to all operators on equal terms. The all-fiber infrastructure that we are building is the only one available in more than 80 urban centers in the country and will soon be marketed on a large scale even in small towns, making it possible to offer high-quality and future-proof broadband connections”.
