• Announced today at the Mobile World Congress, a strategic partnership between Linkem S.p.A., the main Italian provider of Fixed Wireless Broadband services, and ZTE, an international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions for wireless networks;

• The first goal of the partnership is the launch, in Rome, of Fixed Wireless technology based on the LTE-Advanced standard using licensed radio spectrum at 3.5 GHz, to provide consumers and businesses with ultrabroadband internet services;

• Mobile World Congress is the most important mobile event in the world, attracting over 94,000 guests from over 200 countries last year. 

Barcelona, February 23rd – Linkem and ZTE announced a historical agreement to launch the first fixed wireless ultrabroadband network in Rome that will provide consumers and businesses with high-speed connectivity at a convenient price thanks to a network based on the latest wireless radio standard (LTE Advanced). This network will represent one of the largest single city fixed wireless deployment utilizing 3.5GHz spectrum worldwide. 

Linkem S.p.A., an Italian leader in fixed wireless broadband services, and ZTE, an international provider of telecommunications equipment and solutions, have announced today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona their strategic partnership. With this collaboration, they are looking to overcome the most important challenge: providing ultrabroadband capacity “from high-up” without digging, to demonstrate that all structural, archeological and environmental constraints, items with great importance in Rome, can be overcome thanks to Linkem’s alternative network model. This will be the same network and business model that Linkem has already deployed in many other areas of the Country.

Today, Linkem covers over 50% of population with its fixed wireless ultrabroadband services, including large urban areas like Palermo, Bari, Turin and Naples. Thanks to the Company’s high speed service that is comparable to fibre, and attractive pricing, Linkem has over 330,000 customer subscribers and is growing at a pace of 10,000 new customers a month. With fixed wireless technology and Linkem’s proprietary portfolio of dedicated spectrum, the Company can deploy an ultrabroadband network at a fraction of the cost of a comparable fibre system.

ZTE, among globally-leading providers of high-quality telecommunications equipment and network solutions, with operations in China and in other 140 countries worldwide, will supply over 200 4G-LTE base stations to Linkem in Rome, giving users access to the highest-performance 3.5GHz ultra-broadband fixed wireless services and with no scenic impact for roman citizens, as antennas will be placed on the existing sites of mobile operators.

Linkem’s CEO Davide Rota quoted, “Linkem is implementing new best-in-class technologies to provide an optimal user experience for customers. High-speed ultrabroadband connections, affordable pricing, fast delivery times, no invasive infrastructural installations: this is Linkem’s contribution to the 2020 targets set by the Italian Government for its Digital Agenda. Together with ZTE, we hope we can further demonstrate that fixed wireless ultrabroadband solutions can successfully compete against offers from other wireline operators in all parts of Italy, including the largest cities. In fact, Rome will represent one of the largest single network deployment of 3.5GHz services worldwide.”

"Broadband connectivity is transforming how communities and businesses live, work and share. The roll-out of LTE-A throughout Rome is one of the major milestones in Europe and we are delighted to be working with Linkem on this ground-breaking project," said Mr Hu Kun, head of ZTE Italy.