Italian alliance for Ultra Broadband services
April 12, 2019
From Branislav Pekic in Rome
Italian public broadcaster Rai, transmission unit Rai Way and broadband wholesale provider Open Fiber have signed a MoU for the launch of Ultra-Broadband and Ultra HD broadcasting projects.
The MoU will be valid for 24 months and can be extended.
The aim is to promote the use of new technologies, develop infrastructures and platforms to fully exploit the opportunities of new communication networks, as well as to enhance the on demand and streaming offers.
The MoU foresees joint activities to identify an advanced ecosystem for supporting next-generation digital services, the study and joint testing of Ultra-Broadband products, technologies, services and platforms for the delivery of HD and Ultra HD video services.
Rai and Open Fibre forecast that by 2022, 80 per cent of internet traffic in Italy will be video. In this context, new platforms based on Ultra-Broadband networks, such as the one being developed by Open Fiber in almost 8,000 municipalities, will represent an alternative to traditional distribution networks (DTT, DTH).