Telecom Italia secures 725 million euro tender for 5G rollout – ministry

MILAN (Reuters) -Italy’s biggest phone group Telecom Italia has secured works worth 725 million euros ($755.67 million) in a government tender for the deployment of 5G networks, the ministry for technological innovation and digital transition said on Monday.

Earlier this year the EU Commission approved a 2 billion-euro Italian scheme to support the roll out of 5G mobile networks through the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).

The awarded tender included six geographical lots, with financing covering up to 90% of the total cost of the works, the ministry said, adding that all other interested operators would get wholesale access to the financed infrastructure.

“With the award of the first tender for the development of 5G we are even closer to complete the government’s plan to connect the whole of Italy with ultra-high-capacity networks,” Innovation Minister Vittorio Colao said in the statement.

($1 = 0.9594 euros)

(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; editing by Agnieszka Flak)