Rome (AFP)

Launched with great fanfare in October 2018 with the sale of frequencies at golden prices, 5G, considered a revolution in the telecoms, has been marking time in Italy for financial and bureaucratic reasons.

Digitization and automation of the industry, connected objects at home, remote surgical interventions ... The promises of 5G are great, an opportunity that Italy wanted to seize.

From the end of 2018, two years before France, which will organize them only in September, Rome sells frequencies during auctions that earn it 6.5 billion euros, a loot compared to the minimum of 2.17 billion that Paris s waits to reap.

"With us, the mobile phone has always been a cult object, it has become a component of the Italian lifestyle, it has spread massively, much more than the laptop," says the expert.

But this departure with a fanfare, added to the slowness of the Italian administration is weighing on operators today.

The auctions have resulted in "significantly higher costs for companies than other countries" and "a sharp drop in profitability," recently lamented Enrico Barsotti, number two operator Wind Tre.

"Investing in Italy is very difficult: the limits to electromagnetic emissions are among the strictest in the world and there is no certainty on the times of realization of the interventions because of the bureaucracy", he said. castigated.

- Authorization problem -

The authorizations "depend on rules which can vary from one region to another, or even from one municipality to another," noted the leader.

Same story at Fastweb: "The authorization processes are likely to significantly slow the deployment of 5G networks," said the group to AFP.

Another concern: the erroneous information that circulates, according to operators, about the "presumed risks" that 5G poses to consumers, or even its influence in the dissemination of the coronavirus.

"In reality, the frequencies used by 5G are exactly the same as those used in the past twenty years for other mobile technologies and whose health effects have been extensively studied," said Fastweb.

We must "deny the + fake news + around 5G which may slow down a deployment that would allow the digital development of the country", also asks the Iliad group, parent company of the French operator Free.

However, all these problems have not prevented operators from launching 5G commercially with dedicated subscriptions.

Telecom Italia (Tim) is already offering 5G in nine cities, including Rome, Turin, Florence and Naples, and will do so "soon" in other cities such as Milan.

Our goal is "to cover the entire population by 2025/2026", explained to AFP Tim, whose commercial offers are aimed at both businesses and individuals.

- Relaunch in 2021? -

According to engineer Gianni Ferranti, head of consulting and training for Europe and Latin America for the Swedish equipment supplier Ericsson, after a complicated 2020 year, "there could be a resumption of 5G development in 2021 if the government is maintaining the tax advantages for companies investing in digitization and automation, and if the average prices of mobile phones capable of connecting to 5G fall. "

Nevertheless, according to him, no "big difference to expect for the average user compared to 4G. But let's say that with 5G, 30,000 fans present at a concert will be able to send a photo at the same time and the network will hold, which is not currently the case. "

Italy has largely escaped controversy over the potential danger that Chinese OEM Huawei could pose to 5G security after Donald Trump's accusations of collusion with Beijing.

"Italy has remained in a position of balance, seeking to remain as neutral as possible," said Rangone.

Rome nevertheless decided in 2019 to exercise its "special powers" to verify the commercial agreements that operators make, in order to "protect national security".

Tim says for his part "having adopted a policy aimed at having various suppliers, so as not to depend on any particular company", a common policy among operators.

© 2020 AFP