Telecom Italia to Upgrade Mobile Broadband in Italy
Telecom Italia SpA, Italy’s biggest phone company, plans to “radically upgrade” its mobile broadband network to handle increased data, Chief Executive Officer Franco Bernabe said.
“The network will be overhauled to adapt to the rise in data traffic,” Bernabe said at a press conference in Milan today. The company plans to start offering 21-megabit mobile broadband service in Milan and Rome in December, and initial rollout of 42-megabit service is scheduled for the end of 2011, Bernabe said.
The CEO said he’s “very optimistic” about a recovery in the mobile business, sustained by the broadband network plan and increasing voice traffic. Vodafone Group Plc’s Italian unit said Oct. 6 that it plans to invest 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in mobile-broadband coverage in the country over the coming three to four years.
Corrado Calabro, chairman of Italy’s communications regulator, warned in July that greater use of smartphones in the country may cause a “collapse” of the mobile wireless network if there isn’t quick intervention.
“There’s no concern of a collapse of the mobile network,” said Oscar Cicchetti, Telecom Italia’s head of technology and operations.
Fixed-Line Plan
The company is funding the upgrade with part of the 9 billion euros in investments included in its three-year business plan, Bernabe said. It plans to introduce fourth- generation network services, with data transmission speed of more than 100 megabits, by the end of 2012.
Telecom Italia, which plans to upgrade its fixed-line grid to high-speed fiber, predicted its ultrafast broadband network will reach 50 percent of Italy’s population by 2018.
Vodafone Italia, FastWeb SpA and Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA announced a plan in May to invest 2.5 billion euros in a fiber network that will cover about 10 million people in Italy’s 15 largest cities within five years. The companies invited Telecom Italia to join the project.
To contact the reporters on this story: Chiara Remondini in Milan at cremondini@bloomberg.net; Marco Bertacche in Milan at mbertacche@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Vidya Root at vroot@bloomberg.net.
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