Italy's Open Fiber to sign network access deal with Fastweb: source

[May 02, 2019] MILAN (Reuters) - Italian broadband infrastructure group Open Fiber is set to sign a commercial deal with phone group Fastweb to extend a network access agreement to 80 Italian cities, a source said on Thursday.

The agreement will involve big cities not already covered by Fastweb as well as so-called uneconomic areas where Open Fiber, jointly controlled by state lender CDP and utility Enel, is rolling out a fiber network through state tenders.

Fastweb, controlled by Swisscom, already has an agreement with Open Fiber for fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) connection access for the city of Milan.

Fastweb owns 20 percent of Flash Fiber, a joint venture with Telecom Italia to build FTTH broadband infrastructure in the main Italian cities.

(Reporting by Stephen Jewkes; editing by Francesca Landini)

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