MILAN: Italy’s €90 Million City-Wide Trial

Vodafone and city officials have teamed up to test 5G connectivity across Milan. Together with 28 other partners, the city’s €90 million trial has resulted in 5G coverage across 80% of the city in preparation for commercial rollouts.

It is hoped that full coverage can be achieved by the end of 2019, with Vodafone due to launch 5G services the following year.

The city already boasts the Open Wi-Fi scheme which gives the city both free wireless connectivity services and full fibre optic coverage, which, in turn, gave rise to the creation of a number of smart transport initiatives.

Among these are smart parking bays, of which at least 125 have been installed, 60 electric vehicle charging points, and an e-bike sharing system involving 150 bikes.

The digital island system which underpins all of these initiatives, known as the Electric City Mover scheme, is likely to benefit the most from upcoming 5G connectivity. The city of Milan has worked with Telecom Italia to create a smart transport infrastructure capable of processing ticket requests, tourist information, local transport bookings, and electric vehicle rentals. All of this information will need to be processed quickly and efficiently to keep up with future demand.