Italy’s Ministry of Economic Development (MISE) has announced the launch of tender to be run by state-owned infrastructure agency Infratel to bring high-speed broadband connections to schools all over the country. The tender has been split up into 7 lots covering 15 regions with a view to equipping over 80 percent of Italy’s schools, equivalent to more than 32,000 buildings, with fibre-optic equipment that guarantees download speeds of at least 100Mbps and up to 1Gbps.

The government previously said it would be making available EUR 400 million to the Digital School Plan covering Liguria and Piedmont (lot 1), Lombardy (lot 2), Lazio and Sardinia (lot 3), Campania and Basilicata (lot 4), Calabria and Sicily (lot 5), Tuscany and Veneto (lot 6), and Marche, Abruzzo, Molise and Puglia (lot 7). The remaining regions will implement the plan via their in-house digital infrastructure companies, said MISE.

The ministry also specified that a maximum of two lots would be awarded to the same bidder in order to guarantee a high level of competitiveness and a rapid rollout. In addition, severe penalties have been introduced for any delays in completing the tender or any breaches of service quality. “Providing schools with high-speed broadband connections is a priority, and the tender rules reflect the need for acceleration given by the government to the School Plan,” said Infratel Italia head Eleonora Fratesi.