State prepares universal broadband plan

Italy’s minister of public administration, Renato Brunetta, has revealed that the government has prepared a plan to ensure broadband access for all from next year, Reuters reports. The plan, which will require investment of around EUR800 million (USD1.19 billion) from public and private sources, aims to provide universal access to transmission speeds of at least 2Mbps. Brunetta said: ‘I expect to have 2MB of broadband for everyone starting from 2010. The plan is ready … It’s a problem of investments, but by now only a final push is needed.’ Brunetta hopes to receive regulatory approval by the end of November and put the plan into action by the end of the year. Brunetta will no doubt have been boosted by incumbent operator Telecom Italia’s announcement on 12 October that it is willing to collaborate with rival operators to expand the nation’s broadband infrastructure. As reported by CommsUpdate, Vodafone, Wind and Fastweb have all backed the idea of a collaboration, but Telecom Italia insists that it is not willing to spin off its fixed line assets to help form such a joint venture.