But for now, the country lives with a yawning digital — and cultural — divide that has left behind not only large swaths of Italians, but also Italy itself from much of the rest of Europe and the United States. Italy has one of the lowest rates of ultrabroadband connection per household in Europe — half as many as, say, neighboring Switzerland. Only 10 percent of Italy’s primary schools have a broadband connection.

Introducing ultrafast broadband would “sensibly increase” the country’s gross domestic product, the government says, and it could also slow or reverse the migration to cities that has depopulated villages like this one.

“A speedy Internet connection makes all the difference in the world when you are in the final seconds of an eBay auction,” said Eldio Ginevro, 76, a former mayor and passionate collector of over 270 postcards of Verrua Savoia sent to him from all over the world.

“When Daniele first told me about his project, I thought it could revitalize Verrua and also make it more attractive for newcomers,” he added. “So many have left this area recently.”

Verrua Savoia, like many other villages in rural areas, does not offer the comfort of city life. For people here, the introduction of a faster Internet connection was something of a utopian notion.

“When we moved here in 2003, there was no speedy Internet connection, and for our business it was a real problem,” said Marco Di Giovanni, who is responsible for international sales at a nearby packaging firm that paid to install a transmitting device with the Polytechnic University in late 2006, soon after the project began.