A new mapping of operators’ investments, public funds only for networks that are not duplicated and reducing the rate of conflict, focusing on convergence. To draw the picture to accelerate Italy’s ultra-broadband coverage is Anna Ascani, undersecretary of the Mise with responsibility for telecommunications. In particular, with regard to gray areas, with a strong industrial vocation but with poor ultra-broadband penetration, Ascani believes that “many small tenders make it more likely the risk of inefficient ex post duplication by those who lose the single race”. With a common project that involves all operators including small ones for particular geographical needs, he explains to DigitEconomy.24 (report by Sole 24 Ore Radiocor and the Luiss Business School), how many batches will be made can become a secondary problem. As for the use of 5G as a substitute for fiber, Ascani is clear: “the substitutability of fiber with 5G for the 2030 objectives is not imaginable”.
In view of widespread ultra-broadband coverage, is it necessary to proceed with a new mapping of the investments made by the operators?
Loading…
Certainly. As Mise we have already taken steps to start the process. In particular, the mapping is necessary to define the public intervention in the gray areas, for three reasons: to define the perimeter of the areas that will be covered by the operators; establish where a form of acceleration should be imagined, thanks to the support of public investments; focus on the areas that will not be covered by 2030 and understand which is the optimal intervention to complete the connection, with the funds of the NRP by 2026 and other resources.
Pending the realization of the single network project, which presents many unknowns, how can the duplication of infrastructures and the consequent waste of resources be avoided?
The fundamental point for me is not to use public funds to finance networks that could be duplicated in whole or in part. This has happened in the past and I don’t think it should happen again. The goal is to reach all Italian citizens with a very high capacity connection in the shortest possible time. To do this we must, in my opinion, first of all work to reduce the rate of conflict and support, in a perspective of extraordinary acceleration such as that envisaged by the NRP, a possible convergence, leveraging public resources and taking into account the different needs, of the different business models, with the full freedom of all actors. The risk I see, if not, is that of both waste and the failure of the projects themselves.