Italian operator WindTre has activated its 5G network in 59 provinces and eight provincial capitals, reaching around 74% of the Italian population, up from 56% last month and 40%in November, according to a report by Italian news site Mondo Mobile Web.
WindTre has accelerated the rollout since launching the service on a trial basis in November and is currently using Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) equipment that can operate with 4G and 5G simultaneously.
Some of the Italian cities covered by WindTre includes Ancona, Arezzo, Avellino, Bari, Bergamo, Bologna, Bolzano, Brescia, Cagliari, Catania, Crotone, Florence, Foggia, Genoa, La Spezia, Matera, Palermo, Perugia, Pescara, Pisa, Pistoia, Potenza, Ravenna, Rimini, Salerno, Siena, Teramo, Turin, Trento, Treviso, Udine, Verona and Vicenza.
The telco is working with Chinese vendor ZTE on its 5G deployment program.
Rival operators have also launched commercial 5G services in the country. TIM initially launched 5G services in parts of Turin, Rome and Naples in July 2019. TIM had previously announced that it expects to provide 5G technology in at least 120 cities and 200 tourist destinations across Italy by 2021.
As of today, TIM provides 5G services in parts of Rome, Turin, Florence, Napoli, Ferrara, Bologna, Genoa ,Sanremo ,Brescia and Monza. The service also covers some tourist resorts such as Cortina d’Ampezzo , Livigno and Selva di Val Gardena .
TIM’s 5G offering will soon reach new cities including Verona, Ferrara, Matera and Bari in the short term, according to local press reports.
By 2021 TIM aims cover the main cities, tourist destinations and industrial districts with 5G with nationwide coverage expected for 2025.
TIM previously noted that its 5G services will be offered through spectrum in the 700 MHz, 3.6-3.8 GHz and 26.5-27.5 GHz bands.
For the initial phase of 5G deployment, TIM deployed Ericsson’s 3GPP standards-based Non-Standalone 5G portfolio from Ericsson Radio System, supported through a software upgrade of their existing 5G Core network.
Meanwhile, Vodafone was the first operator to offer commercial 5G services in Italy. The telco, owned by U.K. telecommunications group Vodafone Group, launched the technology in five cities across the country in June 2019. Initially, the 5G service was available in Milan, Turin, Bologna, Rome and Naples. The company used equipment from Nokia and Huawei for the deployment of commercial 5G.
At the time of the launch, Vodafone Italy said it expects to add around 45 to 50 cities to 5G coverage during 2020. Aldo Bisio, Vodafone Italy’s CEO said that the telco’s 5G technology will reach more than 100 Italian cities by 2021.
