TIM Prepared To Expand Vodafone 5G Deal To Iliad – CEO

Telecom Italia (TIM) would be prepared to share the cost of securing 5G frequencies with other operators including France’s Iliad in addition to Vodafone, said the chief executive of the former incumbent. “The accord has an open architecture and we would be happy if other operators wanted to join in. 5G frequencies were very expensive… so it’s important to share costs,” said TIM CEO Luigi Gubitosi, according to Reuters.

The comments come after Vodafone and TIM signed a memorandum of understanding in February to share the cost of rolling out new 5G infrastructure throughout Italy. However, Iliad has since written to Italy’s communications and competition regulators to ask them to review the proposed tie-up and its effects on competition.

Vodafone and TIM were the two highest bidders in the 5G auction held in October, shelling out a total of EUR 4.8 billion for the licences. “We have shouldered the bulk of the costs with Vodafone … we’ll meet with Iliad as we meet habitually with all operators and we hope to find some common ground,” added Gubitosi.―Telecompaper