The development of telecommunications infrastructures is one of the indispensable conditions for guaranteeing the competitiveness of a country.
The Italy 5G Plan, in line with the provisions of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, aims to encourage the construction of mobile networks in market failure areas with a total budget of 2.02 billion euros destined for two distinct lines of action but complementary to each other: the first involves the creation of a fiber optic backhauling network for the Radio Base Stations (RBS); the second of complete network infrastructures from scratch, with a capacity of at least 150 Mbps downlink and 30 Mbps uplink.
From the analysis of the data available on the Infratel portal dedicated to the progress of the Plans connected to the PNRR “connetti.italia.it” (updated May 2023) it emerges that, in relation to the first line of intervention indicated by the plan, 5.69% of the 11,098 planned sites have already been bound, while a further 9.87% is under construction.
Despite the greater construction complexities and the need to target the authorization procedures for new infrastructures, the second line of intervention also appears to be well addressed (densification): in fact, of the 1,385 ex-novo networks to be implemented, 11.1% are in progress.
These are some of the numbers contained in the annual report “Mission Italy 5.0. The role of telecommunications to accelerate the digital transition and foster growth”, created by the Institute for Competitiveness (I-Com) and Join Group as part of Futur#Lab, the project promoted by I-Com and WINDTRE, in collaboration with Join Group and with the partnership of Ericsson and INWIT. The study was presented today in Rome in the Sala Matteotti of the Chamber of Deputies during a public conference attended by over 15 experts in the field, representatives of companies, associations and institutions.
Electromagnetic limits
The study also examined the discipline on human exposure to electromagnetic fields, whose international limits are established by the ICNIRP (Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection) which sets a maximum value of 61 V/m, equal to about 10 W/m m2. In our country, on the other hand, there are more stringent limits according to the provisions of the DPCM of 8 July 2003 which determined the value of attention and the quality objective at 6 V/m, while the exposure limit is 60 V/m for frequencies from 0.1 MHz to 3 MHz, at 20 V/m for frequencies from 3 MHz to 3 GHz and at 40 V/m for frequencies from 3 to 300 GHZ. These are very restrictive measures that have a strong impact on the design and construction of the systems by imposing the proliferation of antennas and, therefore, higher construction costs for operators to which must be added a greater consumption of space and materials and a greater environmental impact. According to the authors of the report, therefore, the reform attempt announced by the Italian Government appears absolutely positive which, through a draft decree circulated recently, has shown its intention to harmonize the current limits and to place at the center of monitoring but also communication activities subjects such as the Ugo Bordoni Foundation, a technical body equipped with the necessary skills and impartiality.
“The current Italian legislation on electromagnetic limits has no scientific basis. It takes courage, the courage to respect citizens by informing them correctly on this matter, through an education campaign conducted by independent and authoritative bodies. He stated it Robert LowDirector of External Relations and Sustainability of WINDTRE, who spoke at conference “Mission Italy 5.0 The Role of Telecommunications to accelerate the digital transition and promote growth” organized by the Institute for Competitiveness (I-Com) as part of the Futur#Lab project, held today in Rome at the Sala Matteotti of the Chamber of Deputies.
Roberto Basso (W3)
“A research conducted this year by the main consumer associations showed that the majority of Italians are in favor of the spread of 5G but also that citizens ask to be informed by authoritative bodies to avoid the spread of false information on this topic and on alleged health risks. The government is finally about to tackle this absurd constraint on Italian competitiveness and we are confident that it will also be able to find a way to support local administrations. We believe that new simplification rules are not necessary to favor the digital transition, but rather to ensure the uniform application of existing rules throughout the country”.
What the study says about 5G coverage
As regards the state of coverage of the country on the 5G network, an analysis carried out by EY and updated in September 2021 indicated that 95% of the Italian population and over 7,500 Italian municipalities had been reached. This value is confirmed by Desi 2022, for which Italy is in first place in Europe for 5G coverage as a percentage of households with 99.7%. The achievement of this share was also possible through the use of dynamic spectrum sharing technology (DSS). Analyzing the data from the European 5G Observatory we can in fact see how, of the almost 54,000 5G Base Stations that appeared to have been installed in Italy in February 2023, only about 28.7% have been updated to 5G TDD technology which requires a portion of the spectrum reserved for 5G connections only. Particularly important, not only in Italy but in general throughout Europe, is the lack of 5G base stations in mid-band. As can be clearly seen from the latest data released by Ericsson in the June 2023 version of its Mobility Report, the old continent registers a sidereal distance from the USA (80%) and China (90%) for the share of the population covered in mid-band with a value of just 15%. This data appears particularly serious if we consider that, according to the latest data released by the GSMA, mid-bands will contribute 63% to the economic growth generated thanks to 5G on a global level by 2030, a percentage which in absolute terms translates into a increase in world GDP by 610 billion dollars.
With regard to the implementation of the networks, the study highlighted the progress made in the regulatory simplifications made thanks to the recent interventions of the Legislator, however recording a gap between the positive evolution that goes into the reduction of time and bureaucratic obstruction, essential elements to speed up the roll out, and implementation at the local level, which risks hindering the implementation of 5G and fiber networks.
Private Network
Among the innovations related to 5G with the highest potential in the business field there are certainly the Private Networks. Private mobile networks are specifically designed and deployed for an organization with the goal of optimizing and redefining business processes and meeting the company’s needs for coverage, performance and security at levels not possible to achieve using a public network. According to data collected by the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), 955 private networks were deployed globally as of September 2022, an increase of about 32% compared to 2021 and 123% compared to 2020. Attracting companies, according to EY , are in particular a “greater control and configuration of network, resources and operations”, a “better reliability and resilience of the network” and “improved privacy and security”, indicated as the main benefits deriving from private networks. At European level, in the latest report dated October 2022, the European 5G Observatory surveyed 73 implementations of corporate mobile private networks located in 19 EU Member States. From a sectoral point of view, the analysis of the data shows a clear prevalence of industry with 40 use cases.