MILAN -– The three Chief Executive Officers of FASTWEB, Carsten Schloter,Vodafone, Paolo Bertoluzzo, and Wind, Luigi Gubitosi, presented a project today to provide Italywith a single fiber optic network infrastructure which would restore Italy’s position among theleading countries in broadband services. The providers ask the Government to trigger theprocess for the creation of the “fiber company” and to convene all providers and publicinstitutions.

Bertoluzzo, Gubitosi and Schloter also launched the first shared access, high-performing fiberoptic network in a test area in Rome.

The project regards the development of a single point-to-point “Fiber-to-the-Home” networkdelivering broadband services directly to end users, both households and companies, andenabling ever faster connections on a more reliable and better performing network than thecurrent copper network, with the added advantage of reducing maintenance costs.

To date, the plan envisages coverage of Italy’s fifteen largest cities (10 million people) within 5years and with an investment of about 2.5 billion euro to be shared between all the providers andinstitutions involved in the project. In a second phase, the plan may be extended to cover citieswith over 20,000 inhabitants, thus reaching about 50% of the Italian population, with a totalinvestment of about 8.5 billion euro.

The national project is open to all public and private entities, including Telecom Italia, who wishto take part and the investment will depend on participation.The Italian market is capable of paying back one new generation network and the financialimportance of such an enterprise naturally requires the willingness to the share investment.The network will be available to all providers, at fair and non-discriminatory conditions, whilst thesales and marketing of the services to customers provided through the fiber optic network shallbe managed independently by each provider.

FASTWEB, Vodafone and Wind undertake to participate financially in the capital of the futurecompany and to migrate all their customers to the new network.

Vodafone Italy

Fastweb SpA (Milan: FWB)

Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA