Open Fiber e infratel have signed the contract relating to the third tender for the construction of the fiber optic network in the white areas, those where there is no market.
The tender concerned the infrastructure that will allow the territories of to be connected with ultra-broadband Puglia, Calabria and Sardinia. One is expected public funding of 103 million and the works will have to be completed within three years.
The two previous tenders were also awarded by Infratel, an in-house company of the Ministry of Economic Development, to Open Fiber, 50% owned by Enel and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, which will have the task of building and maintaining the network under concession for 20 years. In detail the two previous tenders respectively provided for the creation and management of an ultra-broadband network in 3043 municipalities in Abruzzo, Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, Molise, Tuscany and Veneto and the creation of an ultra-broadband network in 3.710 municipalities in 10 regions (Piedmont, Valle D' Aosta, Liguria, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Umbria, Marche, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata, Sicily) plus the Province of Trento, for a total of approximately 4.7 million real estate units and 6.8 million citizens involved. With the awarding of the third tender and the signing of the Open Fiber concession, cable will cover a total of 7635 municipalities in all 20 Italian regions.
In fact, the third tender provides for the connection of over 317 thousand real estate units in 959 municipalities and is of interest over 400 thousand citizens. Infratel will verify and approve the projects, as well as being responsible for "testing and high surveillance", as stated in the press release.
As far as timing is concerned, over the next 9/12 months it is expected to complete the design, obtain the necessary authorizations to carry out the works, announce and assign tenders to companies for materials, works and safety. During 2019 the opening of new construction sites in 2.000 municipalities and the testing of more than 500 in which services to citizens will be activated.
"This award completes the first phase of the Italian strategy for ultra-broadband relating to white areas, one of the most ambitious and important infrastructure projects that the country needs for its development - commented Dominic Tudini, managing director of Infratel – Furthermore, with the progress and closure of the activities programmed with the two previous tenders, the use of a high-capacity service by citizens will gradually become operational, the fiber will arrive directly inside homes and businesses " .
Elisabetta Ripa, managing director of Open Fiber, underlined instead that “connecting the whole country with an entirely optical fiber network is an essential factor in guaranteeing everyone equal access to today's technologies and services and to those that will be developed in the future. Thanks to the joint effort between the Ministry of Economic Development, Infratel, local authorities and Open Fiber, we will lead Italy to recover the technological gap accumulated in past years". ultra-broadband
