Invitalia, Telecom Italia, and Italtel have signed a development agreement worth more than €61 million ($82.6 million) to extend and improve the broadband network and services in Sicily.
Telecom Italia is investing over €41 million to increase fixed-line and mobile broadband network capacity throughout Sicily by replacing copper network infrastructure with fiber-optic cable. The project also paves the way for future next-generation broadband access network development.
Italtel is investing €20 million – €18 million to build a software-led platform for video, voice, and Internet services over next-generation networks, and €2 million to diversify output at the Carini premises in Palermo, where it will build out infrastructure for a software factory and an engineering hub to produce industrial-grade software-led products.
Presented by Telecom Italia and Italtel, the plan is being co-funded by economic development agency Invitalia, which will contribute around €18 million of funds from Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development.
Invitalia CEO Domenico Arcuri said, “This agreement is a big technology boost for the whole of Sicily, fostering the creation of what will potentially be a tool for enterprise, the institutions, and citizens to achieve growth and foster knowledge, leveraging the next-generation network. The development agreement managed by our agency and funded by the Ministry of Economic Development is an effective approach because of its streamlined procedures and a timescale better suited to local needs.”
“This venture offers confirmation that a public/private partnership and synergies between industrial groups are vital to support the weaker parts of the country, particularly at challenging times like the present,” Said Roberto Opilio, head of technology at Telecom Italia.
This is the fourth development agreement that Invitalia has signed in 2013. The first three, all in the Campania region, attracted investments of more than €100 million.
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