EIB loans EUR 600 mln to Telecom Italia for broadband

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EIB loans EUR 600 mln to Telecom Italia for broadband Friday 13 February 2009


Tthe European Investment Bank (EIB) signed a finance contract for EUR 600 million over eight years with Telecom Italia for direct investment to overcome the broadband digital divide by extending the broadband and internet infrastructure network to areas of the country that are poorly served at present. In accordance with the EIB's financing policies, the loan comes under one of the priorities of the Lisbon Agenda, which assigns a key role to information and communications technology (ICT) for the future development and internal integration of the European Union. In 2007 the EIB signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Commission on providing support for electronic communications, with the aim of reducing the broadband digital divide. For Telecom Italia, the EIB loan will provide a significant contribution towards financing the sector's three-year development programme. The project will cover the whole of the country and the EIB funding will complement that already provided by a number of regional public bodies, which are playing an increasingly active role in helping to finance such initiatives.