Telecom Italia to deploy “5G” in 6 More Italian Cities by 2019 year-end

Telecom Italia (TIM) has already deployed pre-standard “5G” in Rome and Turin and recently added Naples.  TIM will further extend 5G service to another six Italian cities, including Milan, Bologna, Verona, Florence, Matera, and Bari.   That will also include 30 tourist destinations, 50 industrial districts, and 30 specific projects for big businesses, with speeds of up to 2G b/sec.

TIM is in partnership with Samsung, Xiaomi and Oppo to enable an immediate use of the new 5G network. TIM will also offer the 5G roaming services in six countries, starting within July in Austria, Great Britain and Switzerland and moving on to Spain, Germany and the UAE.

Telecom Italia  plans to cover 120 Italian cities within two years, or 22% of the population, it said in a statement.  The largest Italian telco is also negotiating with rival Vodafone to share 5G infrastructure to deliver services at a lower cost across wider areas of the country.

TIM will offer tiered data-download packages to consumers and business clients, rather than unlimited data plans, according to details of its offers outlined on Friday July 5th.  Consumers, as well as business customers, can visit the company website at www.tim.it to buy a handset of their choice with selective subscription plans.

FILE PHOTO: Telecom Italia new logo is seen at the headquarter in Rozzano neighborhood of Milan.

Telecom Italia’s new logo.  Photo courtesy of Reuters

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In 2017, Turin became the first Italian city with a 5G mobile network after the municipality signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the company, which announced at that time that it would install more than 100 small cells in the main areas of the city. It had proclaimed that the project would start its metropolitan trial in 2018, with the aim of covering the whole city by 2020.

Later that year, another 5G  MoU was signed by the company with San Marino. The republic, which has a population of 33,000 and an area of 61.2 square kilometres, started working with TIM to update its mobile sites with 4G+ (LTE Advanced Pro) and introduce features such as MIMO 4×4, carrier aggregation, superior modulation, and cloud architecture.

TIM was the first operator to activate a 5G millimetre-wave antenna in Italy, the first to offer complete 5G coverage for the Republic of San Marino and the first in Italy to demonstrate a car being driven remotely through 5G, together with Ericsson – with whom the current creation of the commercial network has begun – and the Municipality of Turin. As part of the Bari-Matera experiment undertaken in agreement with the MiSE, around 70 5G use cases have been defined and many of these have already been implemented or are being finalised. Thanks to TIM 5G, this year’s Giro d’Italia fans could follow the Riccione–San Marino stage in real time with 360° cameras and enjoy a genuinely immersive entertainment experience.

References:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tim-5g/tim-to-extend-5g-services-to-six-more-italian-cities-by-year-end-idUSKCN1U01SY

https://www.lightreading.com/mobile/5g/tim-launches-5g-services/d/d-id/752588

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The Long Rollout for 5G (from June 29th Wall Street Journal):

Some analysts and industry insiders think even a decade isn’t long enough, warning that a lack of cash and local cooperation could slow 5G rollout or even stall it completely outside the richest, densest cities.

One thought on “Telecom Italia to deploy “5G” in 6 More Italian Cities by 2019 year-end

  1. In our opinion, China is the undisputed leader in 5G and that’s not just because of Huawei. China issued 5G licenses to three major telecommunications operators in June as well as one state-owned broadcaster, paving the way for the next-generation mobile data network to be fully rolled out commercially.

    The four 5G licenses went to state-owned carriers China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom, as well as broadcaster China Broadcasting Network Corporation. Telecommunications equipment giant Huawei, a leading player in 5G, meanwhile, has said it is prepared to support China’s initiative.

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