Italy: EIB and FiberCop: €1 billion agreement to accelerate ultrafast broadband development

May 18, 2026 by The Sting's Team Leave a Comment

This article is published in association with European Investment Bank.

An initial tranche of €500 million has been signed to support the strengthening of the national FTTH grid.
The project will build connectivity up to 5.8 million homes and businesses with speeds of up to 10 Gbps according to an open-access wholesale model.
Around 40% of the investments will be made in regions included in the special economic zone (ZES Unica) for centre and southern Italy.
The financing is supported by InvestEU, the European Union’s investment programme, through which the EIB Group has already activated more than €6 billion in investments in Italy.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved a financing package of up to €1 billion for FiberCop, the company that manages the most advanced and extensive digital infrastructure in Italy, to expand and modernise the national ultrafast broadband network.

An initial tranche of €500 million was signed in Rome by EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti and the Chairman and CEO of FiberCop Massimo Sarmi. The financing is covered by a guarantee from InvestEU, the European Union’s investment programme, through which the EIB Group has already invested more than €6 billion in Italy.

“Investing in modern, high-capacity digital networks will strengthen the country’s competitiveness, support growth and ensure equal opportunities for citizens and businesses to access connectivity. With this funding, we aim to reduce the digital divide, foster technological innovation and meet the digitalisation targets of Italy and the European Union,” said EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti.

This transaction backs FiberCop in its mission to expand its Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) fibre optic grid, connecting an additional 5.8 million property units in Italy, to reach the announced target of 20.3 million property units by the end of 2027, so helping to significantly reduce the digital divide in the country. Altogether, some 40% of the investments will be made in regions included in the special economic zone (SEZ) for southern Italy, with the aim of improving access to connectivity in areas where the infrastructure gap is even wider.

“This initial EIB loan, less than two years after FiberCop was set up, provides firm recognition of the soundness of our industrial project. Accessing finance from a high-profile institution like the EIB confirms the credibility of FiberCop’s strategy and demonstrates its unique position and importance in Europe. The operation strengthens our role as a key infrastructure provider and our remit to enable the country’s digital development. We act as a neutral platform, with a model that ensures fair and sustainable access conditions for all operators, making the system more competitive and helping to achieve Italy’s growth and cohesion objectives,” said Chairman and CEO of FiberCop Massimo Sarmi.

This EIB financing operation will enable FiberCop to continue developing modern, advanced and neutral FTTH fibre infrastructure by offering telecoms operators speeds of up to 10 Gbps in areas that currently lack very high-capacity services.

This operation is part of Italy’s Ultrafast Broadband Strategy and contributes directly to achieving the country’s gigabit connectivity targets.

Background information

EIB Group

The European Investment Bank (ElB) Group is the financing arm of the European Union, owned by the 27 Member States, and one of the largest multilateral development banks in the world. In 2025, the EIB Group signed €100 billion of new financing and advisory services for over 870 high-impact projects in eight core priorities that support EU policy objectives: climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, territorial cohesion, agriculture and the bioeconomy, social infrastructure, strong global partnerships and the savings and investments union. Beyond long-term loans for large infrastructure, the EIB Group crowds in private investment for high-risk innovative projects and businesses, with a growing role in Europe’s markets for venture debt, venture capital, guarantees and securitisations.

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is the subsidiary of the EIB Group specialised in providing guarantees and equity to improve access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses and startups across Europe. Acting as an anchor investor, through its extensive network of partnering banks and investment funds, the EIF mobilises private investment and nurtures the ecosystem of venture capital funds to support innovative European entrepreneurs.

InvestEU

The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with long-term loans to unlock substantial public and private sector funding in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps to crowd in private investment for the European Union’s strategic priorities such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. InvestEU brings all EU financial instruments previously available for supporting investments within the European Union together under one roof, making funding for projects simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme has three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is deployed through implementing partners that invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee backs the investment projects of the implementing partners, increases their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilises at least €372 billion in additional investment.

FiberCop

FiberCop manages the most advanced, extensive and widespread digital grid infrastructure in Italy, with 28 million kilometres of fibre optic cables already laid, 10 500 exchanges, more than 160 000 street cabinets and over 114.3 million kilometres of copper network. This infrastructure is supported by more than 18 000 professionals throughout Italy, aimed at creating the grid of the future in line with the objectives of the Digital Agenda for Europe: 1 gigabit connectivity for the entire population by 2030. FiberCop is a wholesale-only operator, exclusively providing wholesale services for telecoms operators as well as ensuring modern, comprehensive, neutral infrastructure. FiberCop’s shareholding structure is 37.8% owned by the US infrastructure fund KKR Infrastructure, 17.5% by Canadian pension fund Canada CPP Investments, 17.5% by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Adia, 16% by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and 11.2% by the Italian infrastructure fund F2i. For more information, visit http://www.fibercop.com

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