LONDON (Alliance News) - Vodafone Group PLC said Wednesday its Italian unit has bought spectrums to enable the deployment of 5G technology for EUR2.4 billion.
The telecommunications giant said the spectrum will deliver network operating efficiencies able to meet future increases in data traffic.
The spectrum was acquired in an auction by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development and includes ranges of 3700 megahertz to 80 MHz for EUR1.68 billion, 700 MHz to 2x 10 MHz for EUR683 million, and 26 gigahertz to 200 MHz for EUR33 million.
The 3700 MHz spectrum will be immediately available to enhance coverage, improve capacity, and for the rapid development of 5G services, the company said.
The 700 MHz will be available from 2022 and the 26 GHz, which will be used to "deliver high capacity services in densely populated locations", from January 2019.
Vodafone Italy is aiming to make Milan the "5G capital of Europe". It expects to have 5G coverage in 80% of the city area by December 2018.