By Elvira Pollina MILAN, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Telecom Italia (TIM) and Swisscom's Italian unit Fastweb are nearing a mobile network-sharing deal to cut costs of upgrading and operating their 5G
Telecom Italia and Fastweb's 5G Network Cost-Saving Deal
By Elvira Pollina
MILAN, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Telecom Italia (TIM) and Swisscom's Italian unit Fastweb are nearing a mobile network-sharing deal to cut costs of upgrading and operating their 5G infrastructure across Italy, three sources said.
Italian telecom firms are looking to revamp their business model after losing almost a third of their revenue since 2010 and seeing post-investment cash flow dwindle to zero from 10.5 billion euros ($12 billion) that year, according to industry group Asstel.
The network deal would help TIM and rival Fastweb to upgrade their mobile networks to standalone 5G, a technology built from scratch rather than on 4G, while the sector remains squeezed by fierce price competition.
Thanks to the deal, TIM and Fastweb could each save as much as 250 million to 300 million euros over 10 years, according to one of the sources with knowledge of the matter.
The project, internally codenamed Prism and not reported previously, covers active network components such as antennas, base stations, radio units, backhaul and other equipment that transmit and manage mobile signals.
It targets towns with fewer than 35,000 residents, the people said, declining to be named as plans are not public.
Parties aim to finalise the agreement by early March after hammering out a preliminary accord in recent weeks, two of the sources said.
Representatives for Telecom Italia and Fastweb declined to comment.
NETWORK UPGRADE
Fastweb last year became Italy's top mobile operator after an 8 billion euro buyout of Vodafone's local business.
The network accord with TIM would revive an active earlier network sharing plan that TIM and Vodafone agreed but never carried out after merging their passive mobile infrastructure into tower company INWIT in 2019.
The deal would make each operator responsible for upgrading the technology in designated areas to avoid a duplication of investments and managing costs, the people said, adding it is expected to include spectrum sharing.
($1 = 0.8554 euros)
(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Editing by Valentina Za)
