ITALY'S FASTWEB JOINS RIVALS AS BROADBAND PRICES FALL

Fastweb has spent EUR5 billion in the last ten years deploying its own fiber-optic networks to reach two million homes in major Italian cities. Now it is stuck renting lines on the rival Telecom Italia’s aging network as falling broadband prices have brought fiber expansion to a halt, writes WSJ. And Telecom Italia’s copper network is preventing Fastweb from marketing competitive services such as HDTV. "Italy is really falling behind," Fastweb CEO Carsten Schloter says. "If Asia is moving to fiber, if Europe is moving to fiber, there will be a new application wave in terms of video services, new forms of interactive television.... Italian customers won't be able to use it," he says. Fastweb, Wind and Vodafone recently announced plans to create a joint venture to invest EUR2.5 billion over a five-year period to build fiber in Italy's 15 largest cities. (Wall Street Journal)