The Open Fiber wholesale-only venture of Italian utility giant Enel and state lender CDP has already reached the milestone of 2 million homes connected to its fibre-optic network and is on course for an IPO in 2019, reports Milano-Finanza, citing the company’s CEO Tommaso Pompei. “The cabling work is proceeding and we have already reached 2 million homes in Areas A and B, that is, those that are most profitable for operators,” said Pompei at the sidelines of a conference in Cernobbio. One million of those connections derive from the Metroweb network acquired by Open Fiber a year ago, but the rest correspond to newly-built lines in cities such as Padua, Perugia and Naples.
The chief executive also revealed plans to list the company when it reaches a certain level of development and a certain number of customers. “I think towards the end of 2019 the company will have the scale to consider listing [on the FTSE MIB]," said Pompei, adding that the decision will be up to shareholders.
Earlier this year Pompei announced plans to invest around EUR 6.5 billion and create some 15,000 jobs as part of plans to build fibre-to-the-home networks in 250 major cities and connect a total of 19 million households and businesses by 2022.
