Broadband coverage in Sicily 2018-2021, by connection speed

In 2018, only about 14 percent of households in Sicily had access to ultrafast broadband (minimum download speed of 100 Mbps). The coverage was expected to reach roughly 40 percent of households by the end of 2021. Between 2017 and 2018, the coverage of fiber-to-the-home/building connections increased dramatically in Italy, reaching 6.3 million households. Optical fiber is a key infrastructure for ultrafast broadband access. Between 2018 and 2019, the number of ultrafast broadband connections in the country nearly doubled, passing from 2.1 million to 3.49 million.

Palermo leads the way in Sicily

Sicily’s capital Palermo figured among the leading ten provinces in Italy for ultrafast broadband penetration. As of December 2018, 36 percent of households in Palermo had access to ultrafast broadband. The regional average of 14 percent included however rural areas, which had a considerably lower penetration rate.

The Italian broadband market

In 2018, Telecom Italia was the market leader in the fixed broadband segment, accounting for nearly 40 percent of revenues generated from broadband subscriptions. In the same year, Fastweb acquired licenses to implement its own 5G network in Italy, determined to compete against Telecom and Vodafone in the 5G market as well.