TORINO. An uphill path, especially for smaller municipalities. The Covid-19 pandemic has amplified the importance of fast connection to the web, but for the North West quadrant, broadband has yet to complete its path. Over 90% of construction sites have yet to be completed, and as the National Union of Municipalities, Communities and Mountain Bodies (Uncem) has often remarked, much more needs to be done. Because the internet can reduce distances, and mitigate the surge in inequality that has been one of the negative externalities of the pandemic emergency.
One of the most important lessons that the SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus has taught is that digitization, if used in a thoughtful and conscientious way, can be a special weapon for a country’s social and economic development. Just think of distance-teaching, telemedicine, advanced genomics. It is for this reason that the north-western trio of Italy – Piedmont, Liguria, Valle d’Aosta – looks with interest at what is happening on the broadband front. Also in future terms, given that a territory more connected to the web can be functional to the attraction of international investments and fresh capital, such as to feed itself.
The state of the art of the works can be verified in the map of the National Strategic Plan, coordinated by the Ministry of Economic Development and with the first start of the works in 2018. And a very varied picture emerges, which will be crucial in the coming years for the connection to the web . In Piedmont, 3,417 construction sites are planned under concession, both for fiber (1,115 municipalities involved) and wireless (1,183 municipalities involved). To date, 250 have been completed, but there are 91 municipalities currently in planning for the fiber connection work and 22 municipalities for the wireless one. As regards Liguria, however, 34 municipalities are currently being planned for fiber connection works, 6 municipalities for wireless connection works. On the other hand, 18 concession sites have already been completed, compared to 716 sites for the national ultra-broadband project. No less important are the interventions envisaged by the National Plan for the Aosta Valley, in total 239. Sixteen have already been completed, but currently there are nine municipalities with planned works, three with wireless and six with fiber. The consequence is that compared to 4,372 construction sites planned for the north-western quadrant, 284 are already finished. In other words, 4,088 yards are still missing from the final call, 93.5% of the total.
Furthermore, two specific segments, health and education, will be crucial. In the case of the first, the quadrant made up of Piedmont, Liguria and Valle d’Aosta will be able to count on 1,649 healthcare structures involved, for a total of 44.097 billion euros net of VAT, 23.107 of supplies and 20.989 of services. All this against a total of 387.289 billion euros on a national basis and 12,279 centers involved. On the education front, on the other hand, total resources amounted to 184,424 billion euros, of which 16,324 for the North West: 10.396 billion in supplies and 5.928 billion in services, for a total of 912 schools.
The challenge is unique, that of breaking down the “digital speed divide” in Italy, starting from those areas where the critical issues related to the spread of ultra-broadband make not only those areas unattractive from an economic point of view, but also lead to a depopulation. This was always remarked by Uncem, which in recent months is constituting a constant goad towards the executive, with constant monitoring of the initiatives towards the full digitization of the country. Or, at the very least, a sub-optimal regimen. For this reason, Eolo, a benefit company providing fixed-wireless ultra-broadband connectivity (Fwa), and Uncem renewed in November the partnership entered into in 2019 to bring ultra-fast internet to areas without coverage with the fast web. “We are continuing an intense, positive and important action with Eolo”, explained Marco Bussone, number one of Uncem. «Together we want to overcome the digital divide in the country, bringing advanced technological solutions that provide high-speed connection, especially in small towns and mountain areas. The wireless system reaches thousands of municipalities and very often the mayors and communities do not know it. With Eolo we can train and carry out a cultural action to animate the territories, greener and smarter », says Bussone.
The eyes of the entrepreneurs, but also and above all of the local administrators, are focused on the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Pnrr). And private initiatives have already begun, such as the “Digital Vouchers I4.0” call by the Turin Chamber of Commerce. These are contributions for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MPMIs) in the province of Turin, to promote services or solutions focused on new skills and digital 4.0 technologies. The 2021 call is closed, but a new call will be published in the course of 2022. Furthermore, Simest has launched a new financing instrument for SMEs, for the realization of investments aimed at favoring the digital transition (at least 50% of the financing) environment of small businesses and strengthen their competitiveness on foreign markets. The measure supports, through subsidized and non-repayable loans (up to 25%), investments of up to € 300,000. And applications are open until May 31st. Similar tools are also being studied in Liguria and Valle d’Aosta, but the priority remains the progress of work on broadband. That for the North West, which is aiming for an economic restart, is more of a priority than ever.