Technology at the Service of the City of Art
The Broadband Network will allow the Gradual Elimination of Aerials from Rooftops and will Incentivate New Business
In order to celebrate the inauguration of La Fenice Theatre, the opening performance will also be "beamed" by FastWeb to the Ateneo Veneto and the Cinema Corso
Venice, November 6th, 2003 - FastWeb, Italy's leading broadband telecommunications provider, makes its debut in Venice on the occasion of the inauguration of La Fenice Theatre.
The development of the broadband network in Venice and the relative benefits.
Thanks to FastWeb, Venice will be the first city in North Eastern Italy to have a broadband telecommunications network. The development of Venice's network is planned to begin in 2004 and last for approximately two years. The network will cover the cities of Venice and Mestre and the lagoon islands.
The pre-existence of over 150 km of underground infrastructure, partly built for an abandoned cable TV project launched in the 1990s called Socrate and partly by the city's municipal authorities, will allow the expedited roll-out of FastWeb's breakthrough services and will minimize disruption to residents.
FastWeb's fibre optic network and ADSL access will bring countless benefits to the city of Venice. Indeed, the fibre optic network will transform Venice into a forefront technological pole, attracting investments and allowing the creation of new jobs in a city which, until recently, was characterized by heavy industry particularly in the Marghera area.
Broadband technology at the service of the city of art.
Broadband offers many applications of public utility, but there is one of particular interest to cities of art, where local authorities campaign in order to reduce the amount of aerials on rooftops. As the use of FastWeb's technology spreads, the amount of aerials on the rooftops should gradually decrease. Indeed, customers with fibre optic and ADSL access digitally receive national TV and numerous satellite channels without the need for aerials, dish antennas and decoders.
The first building to be cabled: Teatro La Fenice.
Teatro La Fenice is to celebrate its re-opening, following its renovation after a devastating fire in 1996, with a week of high-profile concerts, from December 14th to 21st. The inauguration of the theatre, a symbol of Italian history and music, induced FastWeb to anticipate its debut in Venice. FastWeb's technology will allow the municipal authorities to "beam" the opening performance at La Fenice to the Ateneo Veneto, in the city center, and to the Cinema Corso in Mestre - thus offering Venetians the opportunity to watch five of the seven concerts organized for the opening.
Over and above the December 14th opening concert, live coverage of the following events will be provided:
- December 15th: the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Christian Thieleman;
- December 17th: the Orchestra and Choir of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia conducted by Myung-Whum Chung;
- December 19th: Elton John concert;
- December 21st: the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yuri Temirkanov.
***
FASTWEB
FastWeb is the leading alternative broadband telecommunications company in Italy. The company offers breakthrough telecommunications services, both over its optical fibre network and ADSL, to business and residential customers in the main Italian cities (including Milan, Rome, Genoa, Turin, Naples, Bologna and Reggio Emilia), thus offering integrated triple play for the simultaneous use of telephone, high speed Internet (10 Mbit/s over fibre and up to 6 Mbit/s ADSL) and television. In the first half of 2003, FastWeb`s revenues rose to ? 183.1 million, almost double those of the first half of 2002. In the period from January to June, FastWeb reported an EBITDA of ? 40.1 million, compared to the ? -5.5 million of the first half of 2002. At September 30th, the total number of FastWeb's customers was over 290,000, more than double the 131,500 reported at September 30th 2002. FastWeb belongs to e.Biscom S.p.A. (www.fastweb.it) which has been listed since March 30th 2000 on the "Nuovo Mercato" of the Milan Stock Exchange.