Autobahn Showdown: How a Landmark Court Ruling Broke Open Italy’s Broadband Data Gridlock

Autobahn Showdown: How a Landmark Court Ruling Broke Open Italy’s Broadband Data Gridlock

In a dramatic twist for Italy’s digital future, a civil court in Rome has handed down a precedent-setting verdict: the company managing the A24 and A25 highways, Strada dei Parchi, must hand over critical infrastructure data to a fiber optics operator. The ruling could finally dismantle years of information bottlenecks that have slowed the nation’s ultrabroadband ambitions - and it signals a seismic shift in how infrastructure data disputes are settled.

Rome, February 9, 2026

First-ever civil court ruling in Italy on forced release of infrastructure data for broadband planning. Strada dei Parchi, the A24/A25 highway operator, ordered to share data within 30 days or face penalties. The dispute centered on missing data in SINFI, Italy's national infrastructure registry - a critical tool for broadband expansion. The ruling clarifies that civil courts, not administrative tribunals, have authority in such disputes. The decision could accelerate Italy’s ultrabroadband deployment by breaking down long-standing information barriers.

Italy’s push for ultrabroadband - a network capable of delivering high-speed internet nationwide - relies on a little-known but critical tool: the SINFI (National Federated Infrastructure Information System). By law, all public and private infrastructure owners are required to upload detailed data about their assets - be it underground cables, utility lines, or civil works - into this digital registry. The goal? To streamline network planning, cut deployment costs, and prevent the chaos of “dig and hope” construction.Implementation of Directive 2014/61/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014”, containing measures to reduce the costs of installing high-speed electronic communications networks, the Federated National Infrastructure Information System (SINFI).

That changed in February 2024, when Rome’s civil court delivered a stinging rebuke to Strada dei Parchi. The highway operator had denied a major telecom company access to infrastructure information essential for deploying fiber along a key stretch connecting Lazio and Abruzzo. Worse, the data was missing from SINFI, leaving the operator in the dark. The court didn’t just side with the telecom: it ordered Strada dei Parchi to hand over the data within 30 days and pay legal costs. The verdict is immediately enforceable, sidestepping the bureaucratic delays that have hampered similar cases.

Information that had been denied to the operator by the motorway concessionaire and which did not appear to have been provided to the SINFI, held by the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, and on its behalf, by Infratel.

Company was also ordered to reimburse the operator for his legal costs.

The operator, defended by the lawyers Fulvio Sarzana of S. Ippolito and Amaria Sole Montagna, of the The operator, defended by lawyers Fulvio Sarzana di S. Ippolito and Amaria Sole Montagna of the Rome-based Sarzana ed Associati law firm, thus saw his claims recognized., thus saw its demands recognized.

The ruling, which is directly enforceable, requires the manager to provide this information within thirty days.

This is the first verdict of its kind in Italy, and the first ruling that explicitly recognizes a Civil Judge, and not, as generally requested by managers and owners of infrastructure, the Regional Administrative Court, as having jurisdiction to decide disputes regarding information regarding above- and below-ground infrastructure.

Autobahn Showdown: How a Landmark Court Ruling Broke Open Italy’s Broadband Data Gridlock

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