Take off the plan for ultra-broadband in non-market areas where 43% of the Italian population lives. It will make it possible to offer Internet connection at (wholesale) prices half of those in market economy areas. The first concession was signed by Open Fiber, the 100/1 joint venture between Enel and Cdp, and gives a strong acceleration to the government project which aims to bring super-fast Internet (up to XNUMX Mega but expandable to XNUMX Giga) right into homes.
It wasn't just the celebration of the signing of the concession that took place on Friday morning at the Ministry of Development. The meeting, which was attended by the top management of Of and Infratel, the minister Claudio De Vincenti and the undersecretary Antonello Giacomelli, served to clarify a fundamental step: the launch of the plan for ultra-broadband in disadvantaged areas of the country comes alive and it will have non-secondary consequences. First of all, the acceleration of competition: "The Plan brings ultra-broadband connections to homes - explained Giacomelli - and will lead to wholesale connections at half the price of those in competing areas". The cost-oriented prices have been authorized by the Communications Authority and have been accepted by the EU. They will be lower than those of the networks in large cities such as Milan or Rome since the capital necessary for the construction of the infrastructure comes from the State, which will retain ownership. In competing areas, where the EU would not accept state aid, the capital is invested by operators in competition with each other and therefore bears on the final costs which are higher.
The first tender and the first concession covering disadvantaged areas in Abruzzo, Molise, Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, Tuscany and Veneto was awarded to Open Fiber at a price of 675 million for the first 5 lots compared to the starting price of 1,4 .4,2 billion. 100 million homes will be connected with FTTH technology at 8 Mega while a residual share (30%) of homes will be connected at XNUMX Mega with FTTN (Fiber to the node, also wireless) technology.
The envelopes of the second call for tenders, more substantial than the first, were opened on Wednesday and also in this case it is Open Fiber that has won the tender given that Telecom Italia and Fastweb have decided not to participate in the Infratel calls for tenders and to proceed on behalf own. The tender, worth 1,2 billion, concerns 3.710 Municipalities in Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta, Liguria, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Umbria, Marche, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata, Sicily and the autonomous province of Trento.
It is easy to predict an identical outcome for the third tender, the smallest, which should be called between September and October.
“The plan for the ultra-wide banada will increase competitiveness and allow to avoid the depopulation of entire areas of Italy” commented the president of Of Franco Bassanini. "We will provide ultrabroadband coverage which means not only 100 megabits per second, but up to 1 Gigabyte because we will build a scalable network over time". “Decisive investments are being set in motion in a driving sector – underlined the CEO Tommaso Pompei – triggering a virtuous process that will guarantee more employment and economic development. We are also engaging in areas that are not market failure. Projects like ours will allow the country not only to abandon the bottom places in the European rankings, but to aim for the top". Satisfied Claudio De Vincenti: “The plan for ultra-broadband was first carried out by the Renzi government and then by the one led by Paolo Gentiloni. It is the confirmation of our will to find solutions and to unblock construction sites, of our will to do”.
