Telecom Italia (TIM) has won a EUR725 million (USD756 million) government contract to deploy 5G networks in rural areas of Italy. The tender was split into six lots incorporating all Italian regions and the telco will receive subsidies worth up to 90% of the total cost of the rollout. By 2026 TIM will deploy 11,000 5G radio sites connected by fibre, with the infrastructure open to any service provider on a wholesale basis.
Vittorio Colao, Minister for Innovation and Digital Transformation, said: ‘With the assignment of the first tender for the development of 5G, we are even closer to completing the government’s plan to connect all of Italy with very high-capacity networks. The incentives promoted represent a unique case in Europe: we are in fact the first country to provide for a public intervention for the mobile market that favours the development of cutting-edge technology in areas where there is no interest in investing.’
Source: https://www.commsupdate.com/articles/2022/06/14/tim-wins-rural-5g-tender/