In recent years, the focus on broadband cabling in industrial and craft areas has increased significantly. While many urban areas enjoy high-speed Internet connection, the so-called “white” or “market failure” areas – i.e., those where private operators have no plans to build fiber connections because they do not consider it advantageous-they lack adequate infrastructure to connect to the Big Internet.
In Italy, this digital divide is particularly evident in the Industrial and Artisan Areas, where companies need fast and reliable Internet connections to remain competitive in the global marketplace.
There are many reasons why these areas have been left behind in terms of high-speed Internet connection infrastructure. Businesses in industrial and craft areas often do not have enough capital to invest in new network infrastructure or are located in rural areas excluded from broadband connection coverage.
Beginning in 2014, the government began investing in funding programs to incentivize the installation of fiber optics, especially in rural and less developed areas. Among these, one of the most important is the national plan for Ultra Broadband – “Toward the Gigabit Society,” which aims to bring connectivity to 1 Gbps nationwide by 2026 and foster the development of fixed and mobile telecommunications infrastructure, as outlined in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRP)
Despite the state’s commitment, however, thegoal of white area coverage is still a long way off.
In order to reach a solution that will allow even manufacturing entities located in less central areas of the country to take advantage of an ultra-broadband connection and thus compete on par with economic activities even at the international level, there are two possible paths
- The first is the one carried out so far, which is for the government to continue to invest in financing programs to install fiber optics in industrial and artisan areas and to create incentives for telecommunications companies to invest in these areas. This, however, is not only the slowest route, but also the most costly for the state coffers and thus for all citizens.
- The second avenue is that of some local entities that are working on the deployment of ultra broadband in industrial areas. Trade associations and industrial consortia, along with Internet Service Providers active in the area, have begun calling for the creation of fiber optic networks to connect companies in industrial zones in so-called white areas. And it is precisely this question that we answered.
In fact, FibreConnect is theonly wholesaleoperator in Italy that provides broadband connectivity services to Industrial and Artisan Areas by bringing its redundant fiber optic network all the way there.
As a wholesale operator, our goal is to provide reliable and fast Internet connections to neighborhood operators, enabling them to offer high-quality services to their end customers.
Ultrabroadband connection can offer businesses the following Speed and reliability needed to work efficiently and productively and provides a solid basis for the adoption of Advanced technologies, such as the cloud, the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), which can improve the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises.
The deployment of fiber optics in industrial and artisan areas is a key step for the development of the territory, for the economic growth of the entire country and to ensure that Italian companies can compete effectively in the global market.