Regulator Agcom said the 5G spectrum auction will allow the government to raise $2.9 billion
Italian telecom regulator Agcom announced plans to hold a 5G spectrum auction to award frequencies suitable for next-generation services in September. The watchdog said the sale of 5G spectrum will allow the Italian government to raise at least €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion), with half of that revenue expected to come in this year.
In a statement, Agcom said the country’s Ministry of Economic Development will organize the tender, which will include the auction of frequencies in 694 MHz to 790 MHz; 3.6 GHz to 3.8 GHz; and 26.5 GHz to 27.5 GHz bands.
The regulator added that two blocks of 80 megahertz and two blocks of 20 megahertz will be made available in the 3.6 GHz to 3.8G Hz bands, while five lots of 200 megahertz available in the 26.5GHz to 27.5 GHz bands.
Agcom said the rules for the upcoming tender process are designed to help to create new entrants which focuses purely on infrastructure. Local carriers Telecom Italia, Vodafone Italia, Wind Tre and Fastweb are expected to take part in the 5G auction.
Telecom Italia, which operates in the mobile segment through its TIM subsidiary, recently launched the “first applications” enabled by 5G in San Marino and the first millimeter wave 5G mobile test device in Italy.
Working with U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm and Finnish vendor Nokia, the operator said it kicked off the operational stage of 5G testing, with plans to upgrade its mobile network with the technology. Demonstrations during an event in San Marino covered 5G-powered smart city services, public security and digital tourism initiatives, TIM said.
In March this year, TIM, together with Italian broadband provider Fastweb and vendor Huawei, have announced the activation of the first 5G antenna in the city of Matera as part of a 5G trial being promoted by the Italian government.
The BariMatera5G project will allow the Italian cities of Bari and Matera to be among the first areas in the world to be covered by the new generation of mobile technology.
The 5G data connection, implemented through the use of 3.7-3.8 GHz frequency bands made available by the Ministry of Economic Development, represents the first installation of the project’s network development plan, which expects to achieve 75% coverage of the two cities’ testing area by 2018.
Earlier this year, Huawei announced the completion of the first 5G trial in the city of Turin, in Italy, in partnership with TIM and Fastweb. Huawei said a net throughput of more than 3 Gbps has been achieved using 100 megahertz of spectrum. The 5G trial also reached a spectral efficiency of 30 bits/second/hertz, which is about 7 times higher as compared to the more advanced 4G technology.
Vodafone is also engaged in 5G trials in Italy. In December last year, the telco launched its project to test 5G technologies via the 3.6-3.8 GHz band in the city of Milan. Vodafone Italy’s CEO Aldo Bisio said Vodafone will be working with a total of 28 partners on the project, which is budgeted at 90 million euros.
