Mauro Topinelli: «We started with the peripheral areas. At the end of the year, 26 municipalities covered, but the bureaucracy slows us down “
BELLUNO. A large wi-fi and fiber internet distribution network that is now widespread throughout the province, with important interests in Friuli, and a growth plan for 2022 which includes, among other things, the acquisitions of small companies of operators present in the Belluno and Friuli territory. It is the picture of the present and the future of the Springo di Ponte nelle Alpi company, drawn by one of the two founding partners, Mauro Topinelli, who with Alessandro Galantin first created “The good reasons” and then the company that deals with internet connectivity . «We started in 2009 with the communication company, then in 2015 we created“ Springo ”to satisfy the needs of the agency, for its clients. Communication is no longer just offline, now it’s a whole other world and the internet is the gasoline ».
Step by step, in 2013 the purchase of the current headquarters in viale Cadore arrived: “On that occasion we brought pure fiber to Ponte nelle Alpi for the first time, we had the Tim Center in Ponte excavated up to here, along the road, making an important investment ».
At the beginning it was fast internet for the agency and its customers, but in a short time the need for the territory has grown, together with government initiatives for the connection of the most distant and disadvantaged places, such as mountain villages.
But how does the internet reach our homes? There are three systems. First of all the antennas, the Fwa system: “It works well, it has the advantage of connecting a customer immediately, but it has a range limit, the speed reaches one hundred megs and suffers from climatic conditions, such as snow and wind: radio waves may have interference. But in this way “, explains Topinelli,” we have brought the connection to decentralized and often isolated areas “.
THE CASE OF SAN DONATO
San Donato di Lamon is an example of the conditions in which we live in our valleys. The hamlet is eight kilometers from Lamon and the surrounding mountains block the signals. The municipality is currently installing an antenna for mobile telephony, but the village has been covered by Springo for a year. «From the center of Feltre, the signal arrives on Roncon and then from there to Malga Celado. Here we entered into an agreement for the use of a structure of a former ski lift and we installed an antenna specifically for San Donato. Springo provides internet for thirty megs, which is enough to work. During last year’s lockdown, a professional from Treviso had her office number transferred to San Donato and was able to work in smart working without problems. In addition to internet connectivity, in fact, we also offer a fixed telephone line via Voip technology ».
THE FIBER
In addition to the antennas there is the Fttc, the copper fiber transported through the Telecom network, therefore with an infrastructure that reaches almost everywhere, thanks to the fact that in recent decades there was a fixed telephone line in all homes. «Also in this case», explains Topinelli, «there are strengths and weaknesses: the defect is that the system is made of copper, therefore dated, and the speed suffers as you move away from the primary source (cabinet); the value is obviously the diffusion of the network “. And then there is FTTH, the optical fiber: “In 2020 we started with eight municipalities in the province of Belluno, but in 2021 we are reaching 26 municipalities”. We started with the more peripheral areas and proceed slowly, amidst many bureaucratic hindrances, despite Open Fiber, the operative hand of the investee Infratel, has the opportunity to quickly deal with the bureaucratic procedures. “We will come to cover the entire province probably by 2025, starting from the periphery and going towards the valley floor”.
DISCOMFORT AREAS FIRST
But why is there an active optical fiber, for example, in Arsiè or Voltago, and it isn’t there in Belluno? «It is a choice of the state to connect first of all the marginal areas, the so-called market failure areas. Also because the others, those at the bottom of the valley, are reached by other systems, such as the copper internet ”, explains Topinelli. Of course, having fiber optics is a whole other story: you get to a thousand megs. “There were farsighted administrators who immediately believed in the project and facilitated the work of the excavations. In various parts, we too, who are accredited operators, find obstacles to connect the last stretch between the cockpit. where the fiber arrives, and the user’s home “.
THE PANDEMIC
What impact did the lockdown have on Springo? The answer is almost obvious: the request for information and interventions has skyrocketed. «Not only our customers called us but many other people, engaged in distance learning or smart working. From March to May of 2020 we doubled the bandwidth consumption, without even there being any peaks during the day ».
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