As part of its pan-European Cohesion Policy, the European Commission is ploughing over €573m into Italy for the deployment of faster broadband across the country.
The EU funding, covering 60% of the project's eligible costs, will help bring fast internet access to areas where it is currently not available. More than 7,000 Italian municipalities will be covered, totalling 12.5m inhabitants and almost 1m companies.
Corina Creţu (pictured), commissioner for regional policy, said: “This EU-funded broadband project, which covers 20% of the Italian population, means unprecedented business opportunities, better public services and better quality of life for the Italian people. It shows what the EU is really about: working to improve everyday life for citizens, very concretely.”
Mariya Gabriel, commissioner for digital economy and society, said: “A high quality broadband infrastructure is essential in today's economy and society. Citizens will benefit fully from the Digital Single Market once they have unrestricted access to the best performing networks, which enable the widespread access to new products, services and applications. Such projects lay the foundations for an inclusive and competitive digital Europe.”
The project is part of the “Italian Digital Plan – Ultra-broadband”, the national strategy for a next generation access network. It aims to ensure connection speeds of at least 100mbps for 85% of Italian households and all public buildings – in particular schools and hospitals – and of at least 30 Mbps for all, both by 2020.
The project will in particular cover so-called “white areas”, where market forces cannot deliver the necessary infrastructure upgrade, in all 20 Italian regions. The project should be completed by the end of 2020. Italy is the second largest recipient of European Structural Investment Funds, including Cohesion Policy funds, with €44.7bn earmarked for 2014-2020. €1.9bn is dedicated to investments in broadband and digital services.
For the next long-term EU budget, the Commission is proposing €43.5bn for Italy in Cohesion Policy funds, an envelope increased by €8.5bn, in the context of an overall reduction of the Cohesion budget, in order to “support a lasting economic recovery in the country”, it said.
