Prysmian: contract to supply optical fibre to Tratos Cavi SPA, a manufacturer of telecom, energy and special cables

Milan, 18 April, 2017 – Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, and Tratos, Italy’s number one manufacturer of fibre optic and copper telecom cables and energy and special cables, have signed a contract for the annual supply of Prysmian’s standard and special optical fibre to Tratos. The fibre will be manufactured at Prysmian’s FOS — Fibre Ottiche Sud plant in Battipaglia, which every year produces 9 of the approximately 35 million kilometres of fibre manufactured by the Group overall.

Tratos will use the fibre in its cables for the development of ultra-broadband and FTTH networks in Italy and abroad.

The volumes to be supplied are expected to increase in the coming years, driven by greater needs generated by the Italian government’s plans to develop an ultra-broadband network. The growth prospects for the broadband network in Italy are very positive, thanks to investments in FTTH and next-generation technologies (5G) by both the companies operating in this industry and the Ministry of Economic Development. In addition, the European Commission’s Digital Agenda 2025 sets the goal for 2025 of connections of at least one Gigabit per second for all schools, libraries, research centres and public administration offices, uninterrupted 5G coverage in all urban areas and for all European households, and connections that offer download speeds of at least 100 Mbps in rural and urban areas, which can be upgraded to Gigabit speeds. Consequently, in the long term fibre optic networks appear to be the only possible technological solution to achieve these ambitious targets.

“This contract represents an important collaboration between the two major Italian firms producing passive telecommunications components,” explained Carlo Scarlata, Chief Commercial Officer at Prysmian Cavi e Sistemi Italia. “This is a way for Italy to show that it can act independently in building the infrastructure needed to achieve the European goals.”

Albano Bragagni, Chairman of Tratos, continued: “The agreement between our company and Prysmian Group is founded on a strong desire for an ongoing, long-term partnership, supported by the experience and mutual esteem built in the two companies’ more than 30-year relationship, with the aim of making a shared contribution to Italy’s digital development and growth.”

This agreement further emphasises that Italy has the expertise and production capacity to develop broadband telecommunications network projects and shows how Italy’s technological capacities are fundamental to the development and increased competitiveness of both Italy and the rest of Europe.