Iliad Italia, until now solely a mobile operator, has signed an agreement with FiberCop, TIM’s wholesale fibre subsidiary, in which Swisscom’s Fastweb and KKR have stakes.
The deal means that Iliad will join TIM, Tiscali and Fastweb in being able to offer fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) via FiberCop in what Italy calls grey and black areas of the country.
Grey areas are parts of the country with one company offers next-generation access; in black areas there are two or more. Unserved areas are called white in Italian terminology.
The deal “will ensure FTTH coverage of 75% of the grey and black areas of the country by 2025”, said the companies this morning. “TIM will also offer Iliad access to the primary fibre network.” FiberCop formally went into business in April 2021.
The aim is to provide consumer and business connections with speeds greater than 1Gbps, said the companies.
Iliad Italia, which started in 2016 using spectrum and towers that became available when two other mobile operators, Tre – Three Italy – and Wind merged, said the deal “is a confirmation of Iliad’s commitment to make investments to contribute to the digitisation of the country and offer high quality connectivity with simple and transparent offers”.
TIM said the agreement “confirms the effectiveness of the co-investment model. This model allows all interested operators to participate in the development of optical fibre in Italy in a framework of infrastructural competition that accelerates the overcoming of the digital divide on a national scale”.
TIM owns 58% of FiberCop; KKR Infrastructure has 37.5% and Fastweb, owned by Swisscom, 4.5%.
Last month Niel announced plans to take Iliad and all its operations private.
