Telecom Italia (TIM) has announced that its board of directors approved a plan presented by CEO Flavio Cattaneo to set up a new company to roll out high-speed broadband in underserved “white” areas of Italy. The company will be dedicated exclusively to the selective development of new fibre infrastructure in the non-economically viable areas of the country known as clusters C and D. In a statement TIM said the plan is to create a company with a financial partner as majority shareholder, to be chosen in the coming months. It also confirmed that it will be offering wholesale connection services to all operators in a move that will see it compete with the Open Fiber wholesale-only venture of utility giant Enel.
The operator added that the new company will help it achieve its target of bringing fibre-optic technology to 95 percent of the Italian population by mid-2018, well ahead of the 2019 deadline set out in its 2017-2019 strategic plan. Over 6,000 localities will be affected by the project, with a total of over 7 million homes to be connected, said TIM.
The announcement comes after TIM revealed last month that it won’t be taking part in the second tender announced by state-owned infrastructure agency Infratel to build a national high-speed broadband network in digital divide areas. TIM took part in the first tender launched by Infratel but was outbid by OpEn Fiber, subsequently losing an appeal against the tender conditions, which it said favoured rival bidders, above all OpEn Fiber.
