Start from Pordenone the digitization projectItaly at 1 Giga” branded Open Fiber. The public intervention initiative of the Italian strategy for ultra-wide band – financed with funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Pnrr) – concerns areas not covered by at least one network capable of providing download connection speeds equal to or greater than 300 Mbit/s, which largely coincide with the so-called gray areas.
“The need to digitize our territory – he explained Christine Amirante, councilor for Mobility, Transport and Viability of the Municipality of Pordenone - was even stronger during the pandemic, when everyone in smart working needed to connect and connect. Pordenone, which has already been involved in the fiber laying works for several months, will be the first city in the region to take advantage of this new technology as part of the "1 Giga Italy Plan".
Federico Cariali, Regional Manager of Open Fiber in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, underlined that, in the city, the wholesale-only operator already operates with a private investment of around 7 million euros to build an infrastructure FTTH (Fiber To The Home, fiber up to the house). “Once completed – continued Cariali – it will extend for around 165 kilometers (equal to around 12 km of fiber to be laid) and will reach a total of around 20 real estate units including homes, shops and offices. Currently, around 7 real estate units are already connected and available for sale".
Ultra-fast Internet: the benefits
There are countless benefits for citizens, businesses and the municipal administration of a connection that can lead to one speed of 10 Gigabits per second. They range from telemedicine to smart working; from electronic access control to environmental monitoring and public lighting management. Furthermore, optical fiber is also of fundamental importance in terms of eco-sustainability and energy saving. For example, a high-performance network helps to reduce the movement of people who can carry out actions remotely compared to physical presence. And yet the fiber optic network is passive, i.e. not powered by electricity.
Optical fiber: target to cover 25 million property units
Open Fiber was awarded a total of 8 tender lots, for a total of 3.881 municipalities in 9 regions: Campania, Emilia Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Lombardia, Puglia, Sicilia, Toscana e Veneto. The plan envisages the construction of high-speed networks with a coverage of around 3,3 million citizens.
With over 14,5 million real estate units already connected in Italy to its new ultra-broadband network, the company led by CEO Mario Rossetti aims to cover around 25 million real estate units, equal to 94% of Italian municipalities. The overall plan, between private and public investment, is worth over 15 billion euros. To date, ultra-fast connectivity on the network created by Open Fiber is available in 225 cities and over 4200 small towns.
