Telecom Italia Signs Trento NGN Deal

TRENTO, Italy -- Lorenzo Dellai, President of the Autonomous Province of Trento, and Franco Bernabè, CEO of Telecom Italia, today signed a preliminary agreement that sets out a path for building a next-generation fibre-optic network (NGN or Next Generation Network). Over the next few months, this should lead to the signature of a final public/private partnership agreement that establishes a public/private joint venture – the first of its kind in for NGN infrastructure – to ensure fibre connection to more than 150,000 properties, corresponding to around 60% of all properties in the province.

This agreement has been reached within the framework of an open-ended consultation of industry players, is in compliance with the principles of transparency and non-discrimination and followed the 16 December 2010 foundation of the Trentino NGN Srl company. Trentino NGN Srl is set to build, maintain and supply “passive” access network infrastructure to carriers, and accept the ingress of other partners.

The Telecom Italia project has been acknowledged as worthy of consideration by the . In observance of applicable law and regulations, and any guidance that may be issued by relevant industry authorities, the project will facilitate the fiber rollout providing end-use benefits to local government bodies, health authorities, the university, local research facilities, enterprise and citizens in general.

As part of the project, the provincial government will contribute €60 million in capitalization to Trentino NGN Srl. Telecom Italia could endow the company with assets in two phases: