The is believed to be the first collaboration between TLC Telecomunicazioni – based between Rome and Naples – and FiberCop, in which TIM, the former Telecom Italia, has a 58% stake.
The companies announced: “Under this agreement, TLC Telecomunicazioni will use the fibre optic secondary access network up to FiberCop’s homes to develop the FTTH (fibre to the home) access market in seven municipalities in Lazio, Apulia and Campania.”
TIM said the fact TLC Telecomunicazioni is taking part in the project “provides further validation of FiberCop’s investment plan, which will ensure FTTH coverage for around 60% of households in Italy by 2026”.
FiberCop is a carrier-neutral, open-access wholesale operator, that became fully operational in April 2021. Minority shareholders are private equity investor KKR Infrastructure with 37.5% and Swisscom subsidiary Fastweb, which runs high-speed fibre services in Italy. Fastweb has 4.5%.
TIM said: “The agreement reached confirms the effectiveness of the co-investment model, which allows all interested operators to participate in the deployment of optical fibre in Italy in an infrastructure competition framework.”
