: The paper analyses broadband diffusion from a multitude of angles. The main objective of the analysis is thus to investigate the reasons behind an adoption delay present in certain Southern European countries. The paper presents the situation of an Italian region named Piedmont. Results show that a lack of de facto competition, together with an immature level of Internet usage, is the main cause of the adoption delay. Findings also suggest that the creation of policies aimed at fostering the use of telework could contribute to increasing bandwidth needs for different users' categories, thus accelerating the diffusion process.