Italian fibre-optic wholesaler Metroweb is reportedly in talks with local mobile operators Wind Telecomunicazioni (Wind Italy) and Vodafone Italy regarding the extension of the two firms’ Milan-focused November 2012 fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) agreement. Late last year the duo signed contracts to provide commercial 1Gbps FTTH services to end-users, and the parties involved are now exploring the possibility of extending the pact to two more unspecified cities. To be economically viable, the investment plan needs to ensure that there are enough clients to use the infrastructure. Reuters quotes a source as saying: ‘[Metroweb] is verifying the possibility of replicating the deal in other cities’.
At 5,100km in length, Metroweb claims to have the ‘most widely extended metropolitan network in Europe’. Although the infrastructure is concentrated in Milan, it connects to some of the biggest cities in northern Italy, including: Bologna, Turin, Verona, Vicenza and Genoa. Rival operator FastWeb acquired an 11.1% stake in Metroweb in November 2011.