The Italian Ministry of Defence selected Alcatel and FastWeb to develop integrated joint-forces communications network. The initial phase will entail the deployment of an optical ring of approximately 1500 Km linking the military district headquarters along the two trunk lines of Florence-Ferrara-Padua-Milan and Rome-Grosseto-Leghorn-La Spezia. The project will be completed by the end of 2004. The contract, which was awarded on the basis of a European Union Design Contest, was valued at EUR 25 million.
FastWeb is Italy’s main alternative fixed broadband telecommunications operator. As of 31-Dec-003 FastWeb had 330,000 customers. http://www.alcatel.com
