• The telco edge is definitely back in vogue
• Italian fibre access network wholesale operator FiberCop has unveiled plans to develop 100 edge datacentres
• Following trials with Microsoft, 6WIND and Dell, it is converting local exchanges into small cloud infrastructure facilities 
• The first edge datacentre is up and running in Rome

Could this be the start of a new European trend? In much the same way as Telefónica is repurposing its distributed telecom facilities to create a network of edge mini datacentres, Italian fixed access network operator FiberCop is developing a national network of more than 100 edge datacentres that will make use of existing exchange infrastructure. 

FiberCop emerged as a standalone privately-held wholesale access network operator in Italy when a consortium of investors led by private equity firm KKR completed the acquisition of assets from national telco Telecom Italia (TIM) for up to €22bn in July 2024. It has an extensive fibre access network (28 million kilometres of fibre lines) as well as 10,500 local exchange facilities and 160,000 street cabinets, with its fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) lines reaching 46% of all Italian households. At the end of 2025, it boasted more than 13.7 million active broadband lines providing services to end users via the operator’s retail ISP customers (including Telecom Italia). 

In December 2025 it announced trials of “national edge cloud solutions” in partnership with Microsoft Italy, which deployed its Azure Local platform at FiberCop edge infrastructure facilities. Then in February this year FiberCop noted it had completed a field trial using virtualised broadband network gateway (vBNG) technology provided by 6WIND that had been deployed as part of an edge cloud node running the Azure Local platform running on Dell Technologies servers. “This four-way collaboration enables a part of traffic to be managed locally, thereby significantly reducing response times,” noted FiberCop in this announcement. 

Now the Italian operator is pressing ahead with plans to convert some of its local exchanges into mini “digital hubs” that can take AI and computing capacity close to businesses and public administrations (central and local government) and provide its “operator clients with a distributed platform to support the development of innovative digital services”. The converted facilities “become strategic nodes capable of integrating connectivity, computing capacity and data management, giving rise to an edge architecture distributed on a national scale,” noted FiberCop.

And, as you’d expect with a European AI/datacentre development, a sovereignty angle is part of the pitch. “The architecture enables new applications in the fields of mobility, health, environment, security and public administration. Proximity between computing capacity, data and connectivity helps to ensure data sovereignty, in full compliance with legislation and with the highest level of protection,” noted the operator in this announcement.  

The first edge facility is already up and running in Rome, with further hubs set to come online “shortly” in Turin, Genoa, Bologna, Naples and Palermo.  

FiberCop’s chairman and CEO Massimo Sarmi noted: "Our exchanges are moving from network access points to become true innovation hubs, in which connectivity, computing power and storage capacity are integrated to support the country's digital development. With this plan, FiberCop takes a further step forward in transforming its network infrastructure into an enabling technology platform, capable of supporting the growth of the edge cloud, artificial intelligence and new digital services."

The move is part of a “broader technological evolution plan for FiberCop's exchanges, involving the shutdown of traditional copper exchanges and the gradual transition to fibre infrastructure” that the operator believes will help it with its multiple efforts, including the adoption of quantum-safe technologies such as Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), to strengthen the “resilience and security of digital infrastructures, while supporting the objectives of European technological sovereignty,’ noted FiberCop. 

In Spain, Telefónica has already completed the deployment of 17 commercial edge computing hubs that are, in essence, converted local exchange sites. Back in late January, the operator announced that it had begun converting some of its old copper exchanges into edge datacentre nodes, distributed throughout the country.

Telefónica is also one of the European operators involved in the European Edge Continuum consortium – along with Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telecom Italia (TIM), and Vodafone Group – that is aiming to federate edge computing facilities across the continent.  

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV