Today the Commission adopted a Cohesion Policy project worth more than 573 million of EU funds to support the deployment of fast broadband in Italy. 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 7000 Italian municipalities will be covered, totalling 12.5 million inhabitants and almost 1 million companies. Corina Creţu, 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 all 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 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 end of 2020. A press release is available here.