Broadband, the 100 euro bonus for families disappears. Resources for businesses

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Allocated, promised, programmed. And now fade away. Vouchers for ultra-high band connections intended for families, worth 100 euros, will not be activated. In their place, the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy is studying a mix of measures mainly in favor of businesses and telecommunications operators themselves. The resources to be reprogrammed amount to approximately 400 million, from the Development and Cohesion Fund.

Negative opinion from telecommunications operators

What is most surprising in this matter, which between announcements and postponements began almost two years ago, is the fact that the opinion of the managers was decisive for the change of destination, which in a public consultation (the second requested by the European Commission in the scope of the evaluation of the measure) have by a large majority rejected the incentives for families, considering those intended for businesses to be more effective for business development.

The reprogramming of the 400 million

The Ministry of Business and Made in Italy has accepted this thesis and is preparing to replan the 400 million. The idea is to divide them into different measures: a share, yet to be established, will go to incentives for SMEs that purchase cybersecurity and data management services in cloud mode. Another slice, however sub judice of the European Commission which evaluates compatibility with the rules on state aid, could be allocated directly to the operators as a contribution towards the extra energy costs resulting from the war in Ukraine (the aim is to exploit the exemptions of the Temporary European framework).

The “civil works” bonus

Then there is a “civil works bonus” to speed up the vertical cabling of buildings. The contribution will allow condominiums to adapt the buildings for internal physical infrastructures suitable for the passage of fiber optic cables, turning to companies specialized in installation or to the telecommunications operators themselves.

The measures for the bill on new technologies

Finally, a portion of the 400 million could be diverted to purposes other than ultra-broadband. The ministry is in fact considering using part of the resources to finance the measures that will be included in the bill for emerging technologies (such as artificial intelligence, quantum mechanics, blockchain) which have already been studied for several months.