TIM became the latest European operator to sign an agreement with a leading vendor as part of efforts to boost the development of future 5G technology through a deal with Ericsson.
The company said it has teamed up with the Sweden-based vendor for the "5G for Italy" programme that aims to create an open ecosystem for research and implementation of innovative projects enabled by 5G.
The operator and vendor noted that this is the first initiative in Italy that brings together industries, the public sector, leading universities, research centres, local authorities and small and medium enterprises for the testing and development of new services that are expected to be enabled by 5G.
5G for Italy will also launch industry pilots of possible 5G solutions in areas including smart cities, the Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0, transport and smart agriculture.
The initial pilot projects will include security systems for the management of cycles and automated production processes; logistical tracking of luxury goods; solutions dedicated to mobility of goods within ports; cloud robotics for 5G-enabled manufacturing; broadband services applied to the automotive sector; management and remote monitoring of health parameters; and immersive video services enablement.
TIM's move reflects the growing momentum behind 5G globally as companies, countries and regions seek to ensure that they are in the vanguard of technology developments and standardisation.
At the end of May, Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Höttges also declared that 5G is the industry's answer to future demands for network connectivity, noting that 5G networks are essential to meeting a digital future in which people "and billions of machines and sensors" will communicate over the same infrastructure.
In April, the European Commission (EC) called on technology standards bodies to prioritise 5G, cloud computing, IoT, data technologies, and cyber security in a bid to accelerate its Digital Single Market strategy.
For more:
- see the TIM release
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