MILAN, July 17 (Reuters) - Italy's Lombardy region on

Thursday picked a consortium of firms using Starlink's low-orbit

satellite constellation in a pilot project to see if space-based

connectivity is a viable solution to boost high-speed internet

penetration in the country.

Lombardy, home to Italy's financial capital Milan, launched

a tender for a 4.1 million euro project to test wholesale

systems combining fibre and satellite-based networks to bring

fast Internet connections in remote and poorly served areas.

A joint proposal from Swisscom's Fastweb

and Italian defence group Leonardo satellite unit

Telespazio has been awarded the pilot project, a regional

document showed on Thursday.

A source close to the matter said the test is expected to

involve the use of Starlink's satellite constellation.

Telespazio, a joint venture between Leonardo and French peer

Thales last year secured an agreement with Elon Musk's

low orbit satellite unit Starlink to commercialise its satellite

service.

Italy is grappling with delays in state-backed rollout plans

for ultra-fast terrestrial telecoms networks for households in

sparsely populated areas, with latest European Union data

pointing to a coverage of 36.8% last year against an EU average

of about 60%.