Prysmian Group and IATT together for the conference "Kairos"

Prysmian: innovation is key to offering reliable and future-proof broadband

IATT: trenchless solutions ensure respect for the environment and quality  

Rome, October 25, 2016 – To analyse the opportunities and future prospects generated by fibre optics and the new installation technologies, emphasising the importance of a real digital culture involving all sectors of the economy, from manufacturing to health, moving through the Internet of Things to communications and entertainment. This was the goal of the conference Kairos: digital culture through fibre optics and new installation technologies. The conference was organised in Rome by Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cables and systems industry, and IATT – Italian Association for Trenchless Technology, with the participation and support of the industry’s main players: Italtel, Sirti, Infratel Italia and the Department of Management and Technology of Milan’s Bocconi University. 

Carlo Scarlata, CCO at Prysmian Italia, opened the congress stating: The innovation that can be brought into the fibre optic field and in which Prysmian Group — the sole manufacturer in Italy — continues to invest is crucial, just as trenchless technologies are essential for ensuring high standards of quality, eco-sustainability and cost effectiveness. 

Paolo Trombetti, Chairman at IATT, stated: Over the next few years, the investments planned by the Government and private operators will enable our local councils to engage in a major infrastructure scheme that will have a significant impact on the daily lives of millions of Italians. The use of trenchless solutions puts Italy ahead of all other European countries in terms of care for the environment and social costs in the telecommunications sector. 

Alessandro Pirri, Prysmian Group Connectivity and FTTx Director, said: The universe of Services and Apps that will be developed over the next few years is so vast as to make their impact difficult to predict. It is for this reason that the broadband network must be designed and deployed so that it is solid and capable of supporting future innovations. 

The dissemination of optical fibres is opening up the era of the Gigabit Internet right at the start of the greatest infrastructure race in the history of mankind, stated Professor Francesco Sacco, Bocconi University’s Department of Management and Technology. Today, the growing demand for broadband can no longer merely meet speed requirements, but must be able to connect people with a world of services and possibilities, from which they would be excluded if the network were inadequate for the new needs. 

Salvatore Lombardo, CEO at Infratel Italia, the in-house company of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development and the entity implementing the Government’s Broadband and Ultrabroadband Plans, highlighted: It has become of primary importance to define an operating model that will allow Italy’s entire population to access 30Mbit ultrabroadband services and thus achieve the standards envisaged by the 2020 digital agenda. 

Josè Mir, VP Engineering & Innovation at Sirti, continued: The Ultrabroadband plan has stimulated several billion Euros of public and private investment in order to create a nationwide high-potential infrastructure in Italy over the next 6/7 years. The capacity of the national economic system to ensure its sustainability on the economic, technological and employment fronts will make the difference. 

We find ourselves in the middle of a new industrial revolution that needs a network that can spread the innovations brought by this phase, concluded Philippe Vanhille, Prymian Group Senior VP Telecom Business. A reliable and future-proof broadband infrastructure is needed, one that must necessarily be built with quality network components, with cables that are extremely resistant to deterioration and can be easily installed using trenchless procedures, as quickly as possible and at optimised cost.