Open Fiber has already laid further 2,000 kilometers of new fiber optic cables within the scope of Backbone 2.0the project launched in 2025 to strengthen the national network and create new high-capacity connections between the main Italian cities.
The backbone can be considered the “backbone” of the network: the infrastructure that allows large quantities of data to be transported over long distances and to connect cities and strategic nodes to each other. With Backbone 2.0, Open Fiber is creating new routes that complement the existing network, increasing available capacity and creating alternative routes for data traffic.
The plan provides overall over 3,200 kilometers of new cableswith completion of activities expected in first half of 2027.
The new infrastructure will also allow Open Fiber to expand its offering with dark fiber connections on long-distance national routes. This is fiber that customers can use and manage directly with their equipment, configuring it according to specific connectivity needs.
The investment responds to the growing demand for capacity generated by the development of data centers, industrial areas and new digital ecosystemsas well as the arrival on the Italian coasts of new submarine cable systems.
As of September 2026, six important routes are already available: Genoa-Romepassing through Sestri Levante, La Spezia, Livorno, Follonica, Grosseto and Tuscania; Milan-Genoa; Milan-Bolognathrough Piacenza, Parma, Reggio Emilia and Modena; Bologna-Romethrough Florence, Arezzo and Viterbo; Milan-Paduathrough Bergamo and Vicenza; And Padua-Bologna.
The project will continue along the Adriatic route between Bologna and Bari, passing through Anconaand on the route Genoa-Turinthus completing the expansion envisaged by the plan.
Andrea Lazzaroli, Head of Business Marketing at Open Fibercomments: «The growth in data volumes and the development of new services and data centers are transforming the needs of telecommunications networks. It is not enough to increase the available bandwidth: infrastructures with greater capacity, more flexible and diversified are needed. Backbone 2.0 was created with this objective: to build a network today capable of accompanying the evolution of digital services and the connectivity needs of tomorrow.”
Backbone 2.0 will in fact make it possible to connect cities along the new routes through alternative and complementary routes to the existing national network. The introduction of new technologies will also allow us to develop services with guaranteed latency and dynamic management of network paths, making the infrastructure more flexible and ready to support the growth of data traffic.