Italy: EIB and INWIT sign €350 million agreement to develop digital telecommunications infrastructure

This article is published in association with European Investment Bank.

• EIB financing to support the deployment and dissemination of digital telecommunications infrastructure and improve mobile coverage and connectivity.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has granted INWIT €350 million in funding to boost digitalisation and connectivity in Italy, so improving mobile coverage even in the most rural areas. The agreement was signed today in Rome by EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti and INWIT General Manager Diego Galli.

The funding aims to support the development and implementation of macro-grid telecommunications infrastructure (raw land and rooftop towers), dedicated to enabling the connectivity of mobile network operators, including 5G and fixed wireless access (FWA) connections. Investments are also planned for micro-grid infrastructure, both outdoors (small cells) and indoors with multi-operator DAS (Distributed Antenna Systems) coverage, to improve mobile connectivity in locations such as hospitals, museums, shopping centres, underground lines and motorway tunnels.

“This financing confirms the EIB’s commitment to supporting the development of digital infrastructure in Italy, fostering technological growth and the transition to increasingly advanced and efficient connectivity. The agreement further strengthens the partnership between the EIB and INWIT, validating the Bank’s strategic role in supporting telecommunications and promoting digital innovation in Italy,” said EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti.

“This partnership represents further recognition of our business model and the strategic value of our investment plan in digital and shared infrastructure, which drives economic and industrial efficiency across the value chain for the benefit of our customers. This agreement further strengthens the already solid and long-standing cooperation between INWIT and the EIB,” commented Diego Galli, General Manager of INWIT.

Background information

EIB 

The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. Built around eight core priorities, we finance investments that contribute to EU policy objectives by bolstering climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and bioeconomy, social infrastructure, high-impact investments outside the European Union, and the capital markets union.  

The EIB Group, which also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), signed nearly €89 billion in new financing for over 900 high-impact projects in 2024, boosting Europe’s competitiveness and security. The EIB Group signed 99 operations totalling €10.98 billion in Italy in 2024, helping to unlock almost €37 billion of investment in the real economy. All projects financed by the EIB Group are in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, as pledged in our Climate Bank Roadmap. Almost 60% of the EIB Group’s annual financing supports projects directly contributing to climate change mitigation, adaptation, and a healthier environment.  

Fostering market integration and mobilising investment, the Group supported a record of over €100 billion in new investment for Europe’s energy security in 2024 and mobilised €110 billion in growth capital for startups, scale-ups and European pioneers. Approximately half of the EIB’s financing within the European Union is directed towards cohesion regions, where per capita income is lower than the EU average.

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INWIT

INWIT, Italy’s first tower company and one of the country’s digital infrastructure leaders, builds and manages digital shared infrastructure enabling mobile telecommunication connectivity. Its assets form part of an integrated ecosystem of macro-grids (around 25 000 towers) and micro-grids (some 600 dedicated indoor DAS roofs), including 4G and 5G of the main mobile operators, FWAs and IoT sensors. INWIT contributes to more efficient development of the telco ecosystem, which is key for the digital transition and 5G, and is also committed to reducing the digital divide via the implementation of the 5G national recovery and resilience plan. INWIT is listed on the Italian Stock Exchange (FTSE MIB – benchmark stock market index)