The firms signed the agreement to start the “5G for Italy” programme, which is focused on the development and testing of new services that use next-gen 5G networks as an enabler. It will deliver industry pilots of possible 5G solutions in areas including smart city, IoT, Industry 4.0, transport and smart agriculture.
“This programme allows us to develop the new network simultaneously to those services and applications that in the near future will be enabled by 5G for the digital transformation needs of Italian companies and the development of a new multi-media communication for the consumers,” says Mario Di Mauro, head of strategy and innovation at TIM.
“It is an important milestone that will transform the society with new business models and will enable citizens and businesses to leverage on 5G potential.”
5G for Italy seeks to bring industries, local authorities, the public sector, research centres, SMEs, and universities together to provide a platform to develop applications that can be used by citizens and industries in a networked society.
“This new partnership on 5G demonstrates the key role of Italy in the development of next-generation mobile communications,” adds Nunzio Mirtillo, head of the Mediterranean region for Ericsson. “The two companies will work together with industries to understand their specific network requirements in order to realise the full benefits of 5G technologies.”
The programme has already identified its first pilot projects with broadband services applied to the automotive sector, immersive video services enablement, security systems, automated production processes, logistical tracking, port solutions, and cloud robotics for 5G enabled manufacturing.
Other capabilities such as lower energy requirements, greater capacity, bandwidth, security, reliability, data rates, lower latency and device costs will also be key areas of focus.
The news comes after TIM has announced a number of 1,00Mbps on FTTH network rollouts, including the first new connections in Perugia.
