The interventions of Umbria's 2014-2020 RDP linked to the 'Ultra-wide Band' strategy

The thematic report aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the UWB strategy in Umbrian rural areas and analyse the interventions of the Umbria 2014-2022 Rural Development Programme (RDP) that finance UWB.

In summary, the evaluation aims to highlight the progress of the UWB strategy at national level as a whole, together with analysing the intervention of the RDP in addition to other national interventions. In addition it aims to retrace the state of implementation of sub-Measure 7.3 of the Umbria RDP linked to the implementation of the UWB process and to understand the role and impact of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) on the progress of UWB.

A qualitative-quantitative method and a desk analysis were applied to explore causality mechanisms. With specific reference to the state of implementation, there were conducted an analysis of the secondary data, deriving mainly from the progress of the work on the web portals Infratel Italia and Open Fiber. Primary data was also collected through interviews with stakeholders and a survey among the companies and enterprises benefiting from the Umbria RDP.

The evaluation aimed at investigating the Common Evaluation Question 18: To what extent the RDP interventions have promoted the accessibility, use and quality of information and communication technologies (ICT)?

The progress of sub-Measure 7.3 is positive, but it is still far from achieving the objectives set for the end of the RDP concerning the size of the rural population and planned expenditure. Therefore, the accessibility, use and quality of ICT in rural areas are still limited compared to the target for the end of the programme.

As regards the state of work and the overall progress of the construction of UWB infrastructure by Infratel-Open Fiber, Umbria ranks first among Italian regions, with 95% of municipalities having open yards (Fibre to the Home, TTTH).

With reference to marketing to citizens of the internet network, 49.822 FTTH units and 18.451 FWA units (Fixed wireless access) located in the white areas of the Umbria Region were available as of 31 December 2021. Of these 18.952 FTTH and 4 611 FWA are part of municipalities whose UWB infrastructure is financed by EAFRD funds.

The survey showed that 84% of farmers consider having access to an internet connection relevant to the management and development of their business activities.

Regarding the actual use of the internet in farms benefiting from the RDP, the direct survey showed that 84% (51 respondents) of the farms that carried out an intervention in the municipalities falling within the so-called white areas have an internet connection in the company. Most conductors (43% or 22 participants) access the web via a fixed cable network.