The move comes after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described Chinese mobile telecommunications technology as a threat to Italy's national security during a visit to the country in September. According to two industry sources, the government has begun imposing measures on firms using Huawei equipment on their 5G network, such as restrictions on remote interventions to fix technical issues coupled with a very high security threshold.
In addition, local operators have reportedly introduced get-out clauses in 5G agreements with Huawei, enabling them to withdraw in the event the government asks for costly requirements in exchange for its approval. In July, Telecom Italia (TIM) decided to exclude Huawei from a lucrative tender to build its 5G core network in both Italy and Brazil, amid security concerns, prompting the Chinese company to issue a statement saying “the development of digital Italy should be based on an approach grounded in facts and not baseless allegations”.
Fastweb last year signed an ambitious decade-long network sharing deal with WindTre to jointly roll out 5G infrastructure on a national scale with a view to covering 90 percent of the population by 2026. The Swisscom-owned operator has begun informing customers that it intends to launch 5G services before the end of this year.
