(Finance) – Open Fibre, leading company in FTTH (Fiber To The Home) optical fiber in Italy, was awarded at the FTTH Conference in Berlin for its contribution to the development of full fiber optic infrastructures in Europe, winning the “FTTH Council Europe Operator Award 2024″.
The recognition was awarded to Open Fiber by FTTH Council Europe, the European business organization founded with the aim of accelerating the deployment of fiber optic connectivity and the development of a digital society in Europe. With over 14 million real estate units connected in FTTH as of September 2023, Open Fiber is the main Italian FTTH operator and the largest in Europe among non-incumbent operators (former monopolists).
During the FTTH Conference the annual report, drawn up by Idateon the state of FTTH connectivity in Europe relating to the period September 2022-September 2023. As Open Fiber anticipates, in this period of time, “Italy recorded a growth of 1.5 million real estate units (UI) compared to the previous survey, for a total of 15.5 million IU which corresponds to approximately 60% of the total, close to the European average (EU27+ United Kingdom). Our country, mainly thanks to the work of Open Fiber, has recorded very significant growth over the last few years: in 2018 Italy’s FTTH coverage was 24%. A less flattering figure is instead highlighted by the take up, i.e. the actual adoption of FTTH networks, where Italy with around 27% is still very far from the EU27 + UK average (53%)”. “In the face of an investment of 7 billion, and thanks to its 1700 employees, FTTH Open Fiber coverage is present in 240 large and medium-sized cities and in over 4800 small municipalities“, we read again in the report
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The the award was presented to the CEO of Open Fiber Giuseppe Gola who commented “We are proud to receive this award which certifies the fundamental contribution of Open Fiber in the step forward on digital infrastructure made by Italy, which until a few years ago was seriously behind the European average”.
“To complete digitalization, however, it is necessary that the networks are used by users, and on this front our country is still behind. A switch-off path for the copper network and migration towards optical fibre, such as that recently hypothesized by the European Commission, would make it easier to achieve the Gigabit connectivity objectives set by the EU, while at the same time guaranteeing a certain return horizon for private investments in the creation of ultra-fast networks”, concludes the CEO.
“We are very pleased to reward Open Fiber, an operator that since its foundation in 2016 has proven to be at the forefront of the FTTH rollout – commented Raf Meersman, President of FTTH Council Europe –. The results obtained by Open Fiber have had the merit of stimulating investments in FTTH technology in Italy, a crucial market for Europe’s digital competitiveness.”
“Fiber to the home is an essential element of a modern ICT ecosystem. Without it you don’t have a modern continent, a modern country, a modern society and a modern economy – he said Roberto Viola Director General for Digital Policies of the European Commission (DG Connect) –. I hope I have sent a very clear message to those who invest in fiber networks: we want fiber networks, we want it to be the only fixed access for Europeans by 2030. We have given a very clear message to the market, to potential investors: we are for deregulation when rules are not necessary. We are for the standardization of rules and we are not for superposition. We have also given consumers a clear message: standard remedies will protect the fact that there will always be competition on fiber networks. Stay tuned because there is now an open consultation on the white paper.”