Open Fiber has signed an agreement with Telespazio, a joint venture between Leonardo (67%) and Thales (33%) active in the field of satellite services, to bring broadband to even the most remote and isolated places in Italy.
To date, satellite technology "is able to offer broadband services (HTS - High Throughput Satellite) with performances that are entirely comparable to terrestrial ones - reads Of's note - Even isolated houses, small islands and inaccessible areas will thus be able to benefit from digital services such as online streaming, smart working, remote learning platforms".
Under the agreement, Open Fiber will purchase the STTH (Satellite To The Home) Internet access service from Telespazio. The signal will be transmitted seamlessly via satellite link and received by a small antenna installed and configured at the customer's home.
“This technological solution – underlines Elisabetta Ripa, CEO of Open Fiber – allows us to bring our network everywhere: thanks to the already operational agreement with Telespazio, we are expanding the range of our offer to even the most inaccessible places in the country, in addition to coverage plans in FTTH fiber and in FWA. The STTH, the satellite connection, will not be a substitute for these technologies, but an alternative opportunity to wire places that would otherwise remain without connectivity. The partnership will allow us to enrich our ultrabroadband network which already reaches over 11 million real estate units. Thanks to a successful business model, we aim to recover the Italian digital gap, the result of decades of low investments in the sector by making the best available technologies available to our customer operators".
Luigi Pasquali, Coordinator of Leonardo's space activities and CEO of Telespazio, underlined that “the satellite technology offered by Telespazio constitutes the complementary solution that was missing to achieve our country's strategic ultra-broadband coverage objectives. We are proud to be able to make it available to Open Fiber and therefore to all commercial operators, in order to guarantee access to digital connectivity services in a short and certain time. This initiative is part of a wider Leonardo project for territorial cohesion which aims to reduce the connectivity gap by ensuring full digital citizenship for millions of Italians, in the wake of the long-term vision outlined in the Be Tomorrow - Leonardo 2030 strategic plan " .
