Huawei has won a new agreement with Telecom Italia to roll out small cells in Italy, as well as launching a new project designed to advance network slicing.
The agreement with the operator’s tower company INWIT (pictured) will see the two parties using small cells to improve indoor coverage and expand network capacity.
They will also both work to move networks towards 5G and jointly research innovative site solutions.
Huawei will provide its small cell portfolio, including LampSite, a high-capacity indoor solution, and Micro, a low power and outdoor all-in-one unit.
Oscar Cicchetti, CEO of INWIT, said: “Indoor digitalisation serves as the optimal choice for evolution to 5G.
“This MoU will create more opportunities for us to jointly promote small cell solutions and applications in indoor coverage domain. This cooperation will create more value to our customers as well.”
Peter Zhou, Chief Marketing Officer of Wireless Network of Huawei, said: “Indoor places are essential to overall user experience. Digital networks are helpful to improve indoor MBB experience and capacity revenues.
“More importantly, they are crucial for upcoming transitions toward 5G. Our solutions allow cables to be reserved for and existing site resources to be reused by 5G networks, helping operators transition to 5G while pursue leading advantages in indoor coverage with maximised investment efficiency.”
The vendor also announced it was launching ‘Slice Mall’, an innovation project designed to bring 5G network slicing to market more quickly.
The platform will aim to help operators create and sell network slices for vertical industries.
Huawei also said it had introduced the latest generation of its site solutions 3 Star, which are designed to support operator deployments of new base stations in challenging areas.