Vodafone announces, first in Italy, the launch of the 5G on a commercial network and lights up the first 5 cities with 5G technology: Milan and 28 municipalities in the metropolitan area, Rome, Turin, Bologna and Naples . By 2021 the first 100 Italian cities and main tourist resorts will follow.
"Today we start the 5G in Italy. Let's turn on the first 5 cities and then extend the coverage to the top 100 Italian cities by 2021 - said Aldo Bisio, CEO of Vodafone Italia . 5G paves the way for a new era of digital development services in the country. Services for consumers, citizens and businesses, which will expand the possibilities of individuals and communities and make new and more efficient business models possible. We expect exponential growth of our services, with a profound social and economic impact ".
5G represents the synthesis and natural convergence of the most advanced technological solutions - from robotics to Artificial Intelligence, from Deep Learning to Analytics to Edge Computing - with unprecedented performance, bandwidth and data transfer speeds that will exceed 10 Gbps, latency on the radio network below 10 milliseconds up to 1-2 milliseconds (end-to-end from 20ms to 5ms), and the ability to connect up to 1 million objects per square kilometer and transfer the computing capacity from devices to the cloud on the network to make all the terminals capable of managing applications with a high computational load.
An ultra-reliable network, with spectral efficiency 5 times higher than current technologies - to offer services and solutions that extend the individual's experience to new immersive interaction models, allow companies to become more efficient and more competitive and administrations to deliver advanced public services.
Thanks to Vodafone's continuous investments in technology , the Giga Network TM 5G is born , the new generation of network that integrates all the most advanced technologies to respond to the increased demand for quality and quantity of data. A unique network in Italy, designed by the Vodafone Research and Development center, which can count on the international know-how of the Vodafone Group, on the integration of four excellent network engineering centers in Milan, Dusseldorf, London and Madrid. Thanks to virtualization and optimization in the management of services, to the distribution of edge computing and to voice and data traffic optimization solutions, the Giga Network 5G offers substantial improvements in bandwidth capacity, latency, voice quality, service stability and - for business customers - in customizing service levels.
The Giga Network TM 5G brings Vodafone customers some new and enhanced service levels:
- Real Time: to interact in real time with applications, solutions and devices
- Giga Speed: to browse, download and share multimedia content at the highest possible definition on the Vodafone network with unprecedented speed
- Everything Connected: to connect all devices together, always with the best network performance
- Power Voice: to call, and surf simultaneously, with voice clarity even in noisy environments
- Agile Network: to always have the maximum stability for the services you need, even on the move and in the most crowded places, and a network that configures itself in real time for the needs of customers
- Secure Control: to keep data and navigation safe from any computer threat.
The 5G trial in Milan
33 5G projects have already been implemented out of a total of 41, in collaboration with 38 industrial and institutional partners, in the following areas: health and wellness, safety and surveillance, smart energy and smart city, mobility and transport, manufacturing and industry 4.0, education and entertainment, digital divide. Vodafone's contribution to the development of the 5G ecosystem is also achieved through the "Action for 5G" tender, with an investment of 10 million euros, dedicated to startups, SMEs and social enterprises. Vodafone also inaugurated the Vodafone 5G Open Lab in Milan, a structure open to startups for the co-creation of 5G solutions and services.