Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM), alongside Fastweb and Huawei, will start 5G testing in the Italian cities of Bari and Matera.
The three companies will submit a joint plan with 52 international, national and local bodies, such as university centres of excellence and leading IT companies. The first 5G use scenarios will be provisionally set for June 2018, with three quarters of the area set to be covered by the end of the year and full coverage for both cities by the end of 2019.
Bari, a port city in southern Italy, will aim to become one of the first industry 4.0 ports in the country under the new proposal, while part of Matera’s remit – as the 2019 European capital city of culture – will be producing a 3D virtualisation and reconstruction of archaeological sites and museums.
“This initiative will allow TIM, Fastweb and Huawei, together with all the partners of excellence and government bodies involved, to make a concrete contribution to developing the demand for innovative services, in accordance with national and European guidelines,” the companies wrote.
“The project will allow a real laboratory of next generation mobile technology to be created in the field, exploiting its potential to speed up the development of innovative services needed to relaunch Italy’s economy thanks to the strong boost provided by the Internet of Things,” they added.
This is not the first such initiative from TIM. In March, this publication reported on plans for Turin to become the first city in Italy with a 5G mobile network, with full coverage expected by 2020, while the republic of San Marino set to become the first state in Europe to get 5G after signing a memorandum of understanding with the operator.
