Fastweb launches the NeXXT Generation 2025, the plan to connect millions of Italian families with the future, based on three pillars: technological leadership, transparency and social responsibility.
Technological leadership: maximum performance and maximum transparency everywhere
Fastweb is the first operator in Italy and one of the first operators in Europe to launch an UltraFWA network: as announced about a year ago, in the first 50 cities located in grey areas, a fixed connectivity service of the new generation will be available, these days, with a speed up to 1 Gb/s, with no restrictions on traffic and number of connected devices, thanks to the innovative FWA infrastructure which combines the power of fiber with that of the 5G frequencies. The users residing in medium-small sized cities, so far excluded from the gigabit revolution – small cities like Anzio, Avellino, Crema, Belluno, Nardò or Velletri – will be able to take advantage of the same opportunities reserved until now only to large cities.
We are starting with 50 municipalities which will become 500 by 2021 and 2,000 by 2024, with a total coverage of 8 million households in the grey areas and 4 million in the white areas.
All of this will be governed by transparency and simplicity aimed at bringing the expertise of the customers closer to that of top operators, thanks to a fully digital support and a simple and very fast activation process: the customer will be able to check online the availability of the coverage and to reserve a time for the activation of the service the following day.
A big news also for those who were already navigating with 1 Gb/s. Fastweb, a leading operator in the market with the highest number of customers connected to the FTTH network, is advancing the technological frontier further also in terms of performance. Thanks to an innovative technological upgrade of the proprietary FTTH network, the connectivity speed is increased to 2.5 Gb/s.
In 30 large cities, with a total coverage of about 4 million households, the ultra-fast connectivity is increased from 1 Gb/s per family to 1 Gb/s per person, thus meeting the new connectivity requirements arising from the changes in habits and life style imposed by the current health emergency in terms of work methods, study and entertainment.
An increased performance which, based on a transparency logic that characterises the NeXXt Generation, will be equally available to both the new and the existing customers who can also ask for an upgrade of their connectivity without any additional costs. The new speed performance will be gradually available, from the beginning of next year, to households and micro-companies on the FTTH network, thus confirming that the end-to-end control of the network and the ownership of the infrastructure are the driving forces of innovation.
Finally, the NeXXT Generation 2025 revolution in mobile services: starting 27 December, Fastweb will launch its 5G mobile services and once again, will exceed the market standards for transparency and simplicity: the 5G mobile service with Fastweb will be included in all its offers for both the new and the existing customers, with no additional costs.
Fastweb is the first and only operator to make available to its customers the 5G technology with offers that do not impose any limits in duration and with no additional costs.
The Fastweb 5G will be activated initially in Milan, Bologna, Rome and Naples and it will be progressively extended to other municipalities, based on the mobile network roll-out, until it covers 90% of the population by 2025.
An undisputed technological leadership, associated with absolute transparency and simplicity aimed at making available to the Fastweb customers the maximum connectivity power with a #nientecomeprima (nothing like before) approach that continues to confirm Fastweb as the only operator who allows a trial period of the fixed line service for 30 days, without any commitment, thus treating the existing customers exactly like the new ones by giving to all of them the option to choose, at any time, the best available offer without imposing any lock-in restrictions and therefore leaving the customer totally free to withdraw from the service at any time.
Social responsibility toward the country
Technological leadership and transparency are accompanied by the third pillar of the Nexxt Generation 2025, i.e. the strong commitment that the company has undertaken in support of the community. A social responsibility that to date has translated primarily into a concrete commitment to digital literacy, thanks to the work carried out by Fastweb Digital Academy and to the 8,500 certificates issued to students who have attended the free-of-charge training classes offered by the Academy. The FDA has committed to train, over the next few years, 50,000 people by offering new classes, free of charge, to young and not so people who want to develop basic digital skills or more advanced opportunities for those who wish to professionally improve and strengthen their digital expertise.
The social responsibility focuses not only on support but also on employment and sustainability of the supply chain.
In addition to 120 people hired in 2020, Fastweb will implement a hiring plan that, in the next few months, anticipates the hiring of another 130 new resources, in addition to the creation of further new jobs in partnership with companies that manage call centre services. Beginning in March, in fact, Fastweb will expand its customer operations carried out in Lecce and Cagliari, with a dual expected effect: a greater quality of the support service to the customers and the creation of approximately 250 new operators jobs.
Finally, Fastweb is launching two new programmes that contribute to addressing the current health and economic emergency.
With its initiative "FASTWEB HELPS SMALL BUSINESS", its employees will be involved in a donation programme to contribute to the creation of a fund of Euro 1 million that will be used, in cooperation with Confcommercio and CESVI, to help small businesses/customers in economic difficulties through non-repayable grants of Euro 5 thousand.
Finally, with the initiative "VOLUNTEERS FOR THE TRACING SYSTEM, Fastweb leverages on its expertise and on the skills of its employees to collaborate in the contact tracing programme in support the activities for containing the COVID infection. The employees, volunteering during working hours, will contact the lists of COVID positive people provided by ATS Città Metropolitana of Milan and Lodi. They will conduct interviews to trace any symptoms and development of the disease, will compile forms with data of the family members and will provide instructions on isolation and quarantine for any co-habitants.