Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) will launch LTE services on November 7, 2012. The operator will launch LTE in 1800MHz spectrum, with 800MHz coverage being rolled out from January.
TIM said that it would have LTE in Rome, Naples, Turin and Milan at launch, and have LTE in over 20 cities by the end of the year.
Telecom Italia invested €1.2 billion to acquire 800, 1800 and 2600 MHz frequencies in Italy's spectrum re-allocation earlier this year. Unlike other countries, Italy included allocation of 1800MHz spectrum bands in is LTE auction, to go with the auction of new bands at 800MHx and 2.6GHz. Wind and Three UK are still to announce rollout plans, although Wind has recently called for LTE network sharing and is along in not having 1800MHz spectrum. Vodafone is also yet to officially announce, but a Dow Jones report said "sources close" to Vodafone said that the operator would be launching on 30 October.
Pyramid Research analyst Olena Kaplan said, "Both H3G and Vodafone claim they will make 4G services commercially available by the end of 2012." Kaplan added that Vodafone has even identified Ivrea to be the first town with 4G technology. Vodafone too will be using 1800MHz frequencies for initial LTE launches.
Operators in Italy already have access to the 1800MHz bands, with the 2.6GHz band available by the end of 2012 and the 800MHz band at the start of 2013.
"A number of trials are currently underway in Italy to analyse the use of 800Mhz for LTE services to see if there is any interference with TV services," Kaplan added.
TIM said the following packages would be available when LTE goes on sale from 7 November. The packages include extras such as cloud storage and content services. Data packages go to a max 20Gb a month.ULTRA INTERNET PACK 4G – USB modem and internet for one year bundle
LTE/4G USB modem (TIMcard included)
1 year of Ultra Internet without time restrictions, surfing the web at the highest available speed (max. 20 GB/month)
Included: TIM Cloud for 1 year (special edition with 200 GB of space included)
Price: €349
TUTTO TABLET ULTRA 4G – Tablet and internet bundle
Tablet: Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9
Included: Ultra Internet without time restrictions, surfing the web at the highest available speed (max. 20 GB/month)
Included: TIM Cloud (special edition with 200 GB of space included)
Cubovision subscription: entertainment (Films, TV series, Documentaries, Concerts, News and Kids TV always available)
Cubovision Diretta Calcio: Serie A TIM Football Championship matches live
Cubomusica: unlimited music streaming
Cubolibri: a subscription to browse the digital edition of a daily newspaper of your choice from the Cubolibri Newsstand
Content will be available shortly after launch for all Tutto Tablet 4G customers
Price: €45/month for 30 months
TUTTO INTERNET ULTRA 4G – USB modem and internet bundle
LTE/4G USB modem
Included: Ultra Internet without time restrictions, surfing the web at the highest available speed (max. 20 GB/month)
Included: TIM Cloud (special edition with 200 GB of space included)
Price: €34/month for 24 months
INTERNET 4G – Internet without a bundled device
Ultra Internet without time restrictions, surfing the web at the highest available speed (max. 20 GB/month)
Included: TIM Cloud (special edition with 200 GB of space included)
Price: €35/month
At a later date, smartphone ultra-broadband packages will be rolled out alongside the USB modem and tablet products.