On Monday 25 April, the European Commission authorised a €2 billion Italian scheme under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (‘RRF’) for the deployment of high-performance 5G mobile networks.
Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy, said that the support would ensure that the country’s consumers and businesses would be able to “access high-quality 5G services, contributing to the economic growth of the country and to the EU’s strategic objectives relating to the digital transition”.
The scheme, which will run until 30 June 2026, will be fully funded by the RRF. The Italian Recovery and Resilience Plan includes major investment projects in the electronic communications sector, including the deployment of efficient fixed and mobile networks. The newly-approved scheme concerns the deployment of mobile networks.
The aid will take the form of direct grants for electronic communications service providers. The measure will finance the deployment of: - efficient backhaul networks to connect mobile base stations that will not have an efficient backhaul network by 2026; - the necessary base stations to provide 5G mobile services with download speeds of at least 150 Mbps and upload speeds of at least 30 Mbps in those areas of Italy which, by 2026, will not be served by networks offering a download speed greater than 30 Mbps.
In particular, the Commission found that the measure is necessary and proportionate to address market failures, namely the lack of existing or planned mobile networks that would adequately serve the needs of end-users. The scheme provides sufficient safeguards to ensure that undue distortions of competition are limited and that the aid does not adversely affect trading conditions to an extent contrary to the common interest. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)