Giuseppe Di Stasi and Giancosimo Damiano Gallitelli started their own business in 2010, offering Internet services in Bernalda. Today, they have a team of seven people and over 800 clients.

Former IT system administrator, Giuseppe Distasi starts his own business. Finds a partner, Giancosimo Damiano Gallitelli, specialized in commercial work, and together in 2010 they founded AreaWI in Bernalda, an Internet service provider, in the province of Matera.

"We started from the province of Matera, a territory that is not small but has a low population density, consisting of small municipalities located in valleys, hills, or mountains, difficult to reach. But we had the will and determination to do something important," says Distasi.

Over the years, they specialized in experimenting with connections through radio links using Ubiquiti equipment. Then they participated in the Infratel tender and approached the wholesale world:

"We are somewhat atypical. Despite more and more areas being wired with fiber, we continue to grow through radio link connections," emphasizes Distasi.

More opportunities than obstacles

Despite the challenges of a sector like telecommunications, where bureaucracy reigns, and the morphology of the territory, Distasi and its AreaWI have been able to seize opportunities and grow. Today it can rely on a team of seven people, with two installers:

"I have always had a very positive mindset, focused on the opportunities of the territory and less on the problems, which do exist. I am not inviting everyone to invest in Basilicata, but to consider the advantages that a local operator can offer, leveraging not only connectivity but also a whole range of small services to build customer loyalty," continues Distasi.

Thanks to its approach and the team's expertise, today AreaWI serves over 800 clients, evenly divided between B2B and B2C. 

The meeting with Assoprovider

Distasi confides that he had been considering joining Assoprovider for several years and then decided to do so for three main reasons:

"The first is that I am increasingly aware that working alone does not lead to achieving any noteworthy results, but one must continuously seek and build synergies. The second reason, more practical, lies in the observation that it is increasingly complex for a local operator to keep up with all the regulations, and in this Assoprovider provides great assistance. And finally, it seems right to me to contribute to the many rightful battles of the association," specifies Distasi.

Those who do business today are heroes

We conclude the interview by asking Distasi if he would advise his children (he has four, two of whom are adults) to start a business in the telecommunications field:

"I am honest, I am torn on this point. Between telling my children to find a stable job or to embark on an entrepreneurial adventure, and I come from a family of entrepreneurs. What is frightening today is the fear of failure and the many obstacles. Today, doing business is not just a challenge against the market, but against the system," he concludes.