Telecom Italia (TIM) says it is looking to have its first live 5G network in a major Italian city in 2020, as it continues to work with Ericsson on trials of new technologies. The telco’s chairman Giuseppe Recchi is quoted by Corriere delle Comunicazioni as saying: ‘We are very committed to supporting the development of 5G with Ericsson and in our research laboratories in Turin, so we can meet the goal of having 5G in a large city by 2020.’ The Italian government has said it is hoping to see 5G trials under way in three cities next year.
Meanwhile, the government has also said it is on track to meet EU guidelines on freeing up the coveted 700MHz band. The frequencies are currently used for digital terrestrial television broadcasts, but these services will be migrated to allow mobile operators to use the band for high speed wireless data services. 700MHz spectrum will begin to be released from 2019 and the process will be completed by 2022, the government says.