Telecom Italia and the Brescia provincial government have signed an agreement to simplify bureaucratic procedures and adopt new, non-invasive digging techniques to build new network infrastructure and enhance broadband services, in a deal announced today at a ceremony attended by Daniele Molgora, President of the Province of Brescia, and Giovanni Moretto, Telecom Italia’s Head of Access Operations, North-West Italy Area.
This five-year agreement is one of the first in Italy to implement Law no. 133 of 2008 on simplifying bureaucratic procedures for building broadband networks. The agreement will ensure the security of all work carried out by Telecom Italia in the streets of the Brescia province and area regarding broadband telecommunications network installation, digging techniques and site restoration, as well as future upgrades to existing installations.
The agreement paves the way for the use of leading-edge techniques and tools across the Brescia area, reducing environmental impact and site costs associated with building telecommunications networks and upgrading broadband services. “Mini trenches” only require excavations a few centimetres wide and thirty centimetres deep. This technique can reduce socio-environmental costs (citizen and public service inconvenience) by as much as 80%, reduce workplace accidents by 67%, and bring down the amount of time required to build telecommunications infrastructure by 80%.
Today’s agreement is part of a Lombardy regional government anti-digital divide drive for which Telecom Italia has won the tender. The programme’s objective is to promote the construction and development of broadband and ultra-broadband network infrastructure in order to completely close the digital divide in 105 municipalities across the Province of Brescia by the end of the first half of 2013. The construction of broadband infrastructure and, above all, fostering the take-up of services carried over this network, will strongly boost the next stage of economic growth in the Brescia area.
The Honorable Daniele Molgora, President of the Province of Brescia, says: “This agreement is a very important step for the economic and social development of our province. All the more so at a time like the present, which is proving to be very challenging for local workers and manufacturing enterprises. We are well aware how vital technological innovation is to supporting a community’s growth processes. Modernization is our ticket to the future, which is why the provincial government is keen to continue doing everything it can to promote the uptake of a leading-edge technological system throughout our territory, and why future upgrades must respect the environment and our cultural identity.”
Giovanni Moretto, Telecom Italia’s Head of Access Operations, North-West Italy Area, says: “At a time when development of network infrastructure and the provision of broadband telecommunications services are strategic assets for Italian growth, this major Framework Agreement strengthens the synergies and partnership between Telecom Italia and the Province of Brescia, as we look together to the future. Among other things, we will be using leading-edge, low environmental impact digging technologies such as mini trenches, which reduce the inconvenience associated with roadworks, and bring down risks associated with installation work, benefitting health and safety in the workplace.”
Brescia, 7 October 2011
