Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloni has inaugurated the first FTTH construction site of phase one of the government's tenders to build and operate a national high-speed broadband network in digital divide areas throughout the country, according Telecompaper. The symbolic ribbon cutting event took place in the locality of Campli in the Italian region of Abruzzo, badly hit by recent earthquakes. The Open Fiber wholesale-only venture of Italian utility Enel and state lender CDP has been awarded the corresponding contract to roll out fibre cable in underserved parts of Abruzzo, Molise, Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, Tuscany and Veneto.
A total of 4.6 million households and 500,000 businesses in 3,043 towns will be covered, with Open Fiber also tasked with the maintenance of the publicly-owned network for a period of 20 years.
Last week Open Fiber also signed the concession contracts for the second round of tenders to build and operate a fibre network in the regions of Piedmont, Aosta Valley, Liguria, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Umbria, Marche, Lazio, Campania, Basilicata, Sicily and the Autonomous Province of Trento.
