Why San Marino’s Tiny Size Might Be Its Biggest Internet Advantage
San Marino’s compact territory has enabled nearly universal internet coverage. The country’s telecom network features widespread fiber-optic broadband alongside legacy DSL copper lines. Over 50% of subscribers are already on fiber, and the main provider has pledged to migrate entirely off copper by 2027 sanmarinofixing.com. In practice, this means all households will use Fiber-to-the-Home or Fiber-to-the-Cabinet within two years sanmarinofixing.com. Even today, broadband reaches virtually 100% of Sammarinese residents, thanks to past projects like “Project Socrate” that started cabling the whole territory ahead of its time. The mobile network is equally strong: 4G LTE service blankets the republic, and remarkably San Marino achieved full 5G coverage by the end of 2018 as part of an early pilot with Telecom Italia en.wikipedia.org. This made it Europe’s first country with nationwide 5G. The combination of advanced fiber and cutting-edge mobile infrastructure means residents enjoy modern, high-capacity internet access almost everywhere in the country. San Marino’s internet market is tiny but highly concentrated. The former telecom monopoly, Telecom Italia San Marino – a branch of Telecom Italia – still controls the lion’s share of services. In fact, TISM commands about 93% of the internet subscriptions, making it by far the dominant ISP pulse.internetsociety.org.
