Fast growing mobile operator Iliad could expedite its land grab
Fastweb and iliad have signed a wholesale agreement that could see the upstart MNO offer Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) to 10 million ‘housing units’ (houses and flats) by the beginning of 2023. The agreement is a “further step in iliad’s ambitious investment plan to build a telco infrastructure and confirms its commitment to offer its users only the best technologies available,” it said in a release. “Our goal is to offer our users the best fibre connectivity service in ever larger areas of the country. The agreement with Fastweb is an important step in this direction,” said iliad Italy CEO Benedetto Levi.
Meanwhile Internet Service Provider Fastweb said it has scooped a prestigious and influential customer to its wholesale portfolio, as the wholesale access sector becomes one of Italy’s, and indeed Europe’s, fastest growing markets. Fastweb said that it has over 400,000 customers in its FTTH division, more than double the previous year’s number. Its strategy to expedite the spread of digitisation across the nation owes much to the use of national operators as well as the direct sales to customers, it said.
Fastweb’s fibre optic ultra broadband network will cover over 14.5 million homes by 2025, said Fastweb CEO Alberto Calcagno and this will be available in wholesale mode to all operators. However the Iliad deal has great significance. “This agreement strengthens Fastweb’s strategy of presence in the wholesale market of ultra-broadband connectivity,” said Calcagno. “In addition to providing ultra-broadband services to families and businesses, we make our infrastructure of excellence available to other operators to accelerate the spread of ultra-broadband services in all areas of the country. We are proud that Iliad, which recently launched its services in the fixed line segment, has decided to rely on our network and our technological know-how.”