Italy: Metroweb to invest €1bn in FTTH
March 21, 2016
By Branislav Pekic in Rome
Milan-based fibre optic operator Metroweb Italia is investing around €1 billion to lay cables for a Fibre-To-The-Home (FTTH) broadband network in 10 Italian cities.
The works will target Rome, Naples, Florence, Turin, Bologna, Genoa, Verona, Venice, Bari and Palermo, with additional cabling planned in Milan.
In three years time, Metroweb should reach 2.3 million households, resulting in FTTH coverage of 17 per cent of the Italian population.
Investments have already kicked off in Bologna and Turin, where the FTTH network reaches around 200,000 and 100,000 households, respectively. In both cities, operators Vodafone and Wind have launched their commercial offers.
Metroweb is owned by infrastructure fund F2i and state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.
Separately, Metroweb and Telecom Italia have defined a business plan to bring FTTH to 250 Italian towns and cities, which has been submitted to Italy’s Communications Authority (AgCom). A Memorandum of Understanding between the two partners could be signed by mid-April.