Italy faces gap between fiber optic coverage and adoption

Italy faces a significant gap between fiber optic infrastructure availability and actual consumer adoption. While broadband coverage has reached 77.19% of real estate units and over 93% of municipalities, the adoption rate remains at only 30%. This figure is notably lower than the European average of 54.9%.

Data from AGCOM and the FTTH Council Europe indicates that despite the extensive rollout of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) technology, many households continue to use older technologies. As of December 2025, approximately 40.5% of fixed network accesses were still utilizing fiber-to-the-cabinet (FTTC), while pure copper lines have seen a steady decline.

This discrepancy impacts the financial planning of operators, the return on public investments from the PNRR, and the European timeline for decommissioning copper networks. Regional coverage remains uneven, with areas like Valle d’Aosta and Calabria reporting significantly lower availability than the national average.