Cisco, EOLO Team Up to Knock Down the Digital Divide in Italy

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EOLO, a telecommunications operator for the residential and business market in Italy, is working with Cisco to strengthen its fixed wireless access network to extend its ultra-broadband connectivity to rural areas. 

The collaboration unites two companies who have been committed to helping bridge the digital divide, which today still affects a significant part of the Italian population. According to recent data from the third CENSIS Auditel report, 3.5 million Italians did not have access to internet connections in the first lockdown earlier this year, and are still living without quality access to applications to work, learn, shop and use services online. 

EOLO has chosen to adopt Cisco’s most advanced mass-scale networking technologies as part of its commitment to offer the highest quality ultra-broadband services to its customers. Readying for 5G, it plans to strengthen its fixed wireless access network with a 400 Gigabit Ethernet backbone powered by Cisco 8000 and ASR 9903 series routers to bring the internet to more people, in more places than ever before. EOLO is the first communications service provider in southern Europe to make this choice.

EOLO is strengthening its network and preparing to expand its coverage that currently reaches about 6,500 Italian municipalities. With the ASR 9903 and 8000 Series routers, key building blocks of Cisco Converged SDN Transport architecture, EOLO has adopted solutions designed for the most demanding markets. The new network is powered by a software capable of self-managing, self-protecting and self-healing, and integrates enhanced security and network automation capabilities to maintain greater availability and protection against cybersecurity threats. 

"Cisco and EOLO have a shared vision to help build a more inclusive future with the power of connectivity," said Paolo Campoli, Vice President, Global Service Provider Segment Leader, Cisco. "When we launched our vision of the Internet for the Future one year ago, we laid the foundations to transform the digital world over the next ten years. EOLO shares the same passion, and is making great strides in providing affordable, high quality internet access to everyone."

“EOLO’s mission has always been to close the digital divide, bringing reliable and high-performance internet connectivity to the Italian province. Our mission has become critical during this unprecedented period,” says Guido Garrone, CTO, EOLO. “This has been a daunting task with the need to quickly scale the network to support the increasing traffic growth we are witnessing every day. To address this challenge, we needed a trusted partner who shares the same vision and passion for innovation. We selected Cisco to jointly develop the project for transforming our backbone infrastructure, based on best-in-class, scalable and future-proof technologies."