Third broadband tender expected this month

The final tender for the deployment of ultra-broadband networks in so-called ‘white areas’ of Italy, which currently have little or no broadband infrastructure, is expected to be published later this month, a report from CorCom suggests. The final tender of three planned by the Italian government will cover the regions of Calabria, Puglia and Sardinia. Two previous tenders covering all other Italian regions were both won by Open Fiber, a wholesale network operator set up by utility group Enel in 2016. It was awarded the first phase of contracts – worth EUR1.4 million (USD1.7 million) and covering Abruzzo & Molise, Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Tuscany and Veneto – in January 2017, then went on to win the EUR1.2 million second phase tender for eleven regions plus the Province of Trento later that year. The bidding process is being overseen by the government agency Infratel.