Vodafone eyes Italian 5G network collaboration

(Sharecast News) - Vodafone's Italian arm has agreed to enter into a network sharing partnership for both 4G and 5G with Telecom Italia, with both companies also weighing a merger of their 22,000 towers in the country. Vodafone Italia and Telecom Italia said they intend to enter into an active network sharing partnership for 5G and are considering a similar sharing partnership for 4G, as well as expanding their existing passive sharing agreement to enable faster deployment of 5G over a wider geographic area at a lower cost.The companies have signed an MoU and agreed to enter into exclusive discussions, which also will encompass co-operation on the upgrade of their respective fibre transmission networks and the possible combination of their mobile towers into a single entity.Vodafone said the active sharing project would support a faster roll-out of 5G over a wider geographic area, at a lower cost. Likewise, extending the current passive sharing agreement, which covers roughly 10,000 sites, would also "accelerate and enhance" the 5G roll-out in urban and rural areas.An upgrade of both companies' mobile transmission networks would see higher-capacity optical fibre cables added, known as backhauling, to enable customers to benefit from 5G and providing both companies with greater economies of scale.A potential towers combination "would be structured in a way that would be expected to be value accretive to all the parties involved", Vodafone said, and over time, the pair would look at moving active network equipment from third-party towers to the infrastructure of the new entity. Aldo Bisio, CEO of Vodafone Italia, said: "This partnership will allow us to generate significant benefits for our customers and other stakeholders, who will be able to enjoy the best 5G experience, made available in a shorter period of time and across a wider geographical area. 5G represents a technological breakthrough that will have a profound impact on society, and that requires investment, efficiency and a rapid rollout. This has led us to broaden the scope of our existing successful partnership."