All systems GO for Italian LTE rollout

The Italian wireless broadband operator GO internet, which offers services using 3.5GHz licences covering the Marche and Emilia Romagna regions, has signed Huawei to migrate its networks from WiMAX to Time Division Long Term Evolution (TD-LTE) technology. The four-year deal will be worth up to USD10 million, GO says, and will increase its peak download speeds from 7Mbps to 100Mbps, while also allowing for more users per base station and improving indoor coverage. The telco expects to have 60% population coverage of the Marche and Emilia Romagna regions by end-2018, up from just 9% at present. Alessandro Frizzoni, CEO of GO internet, commented: ‘This agreement represents a major milestone in our growth process, a technological step forward that will lead the company to further strengthen its market position.’