Nokia secured a three-year agreement to expand and upgrade Telecom Italia’s (TIM) 5G network, marking one of the vendor’s most significant wins in the Italian market. The contract follows a competitive tender and broadens Nokia’s existing footprint with TIM, targeting new regions and boosting capacity across both urban and rural areas. TIM aims to close connectivity gaps and accelerate enterprise digitization, particularly in smaller towns that still lack high-performance broadband.
The deployment centers on Nokia’s AirScale RAN portfolio, including Habrok 32 Massive MIMO radios, Pandion FDD remote radio heads, and Lodos baseband cards built on ReefShark silicon. The new hardware is designed to increase 5G throughput, improve energy efficiency, and reduce operating costs. Nokia will also broaden TIM’s use of the MantaRay SON platform to automate network planning, optimization, and performance management using AI-driven analytics.
Services under the agreement cover deployment, maintenance, and AI-enhanced support. TIM expects the upgraded network to help improve nationwide competitiveness, strengthen sustainability goals, and support high-performance 5G for industrial and enterprise use cases. Nokia sees the deal as a major step in expanding its Italian market share.
• Nokia wins a three-year nationwide 5G modernization contract from TIM
• Deployment expands Nokia’s RAN footprint into new regions
• AirScale RAN includes Habrok 32 Massive MIMO and Pandion FDD radios
• Lodos 4G/5G baseband card provides higher capacity and lower energy use
• ReefShark SoC underpins improved power efficiency and performance
• MantaRay SON expands for AI-based automation and network optimization
• Contract includes deployment, maintenance, and AI-assisted support services
• Supports TIM’s digital divide, enterprise 5G, and sustainability targets
Pietro Labriola, CEO at TIM, said, “This partnership strengthens TIM’s leadership in building the next generation of 5G networks, enabling faster, smarter, and more sustainable connectivity across Italy.”
🌐 Analysis:
Nokia’s win with TIM reinforces its strategy of leaning heavily into energy-efficient RAN hardware and AI-based automation platforms as operators balance modernization with cost and sustainability constraints. The deal follows Nokia’s broader push toward market share recovery across Europe, where it has recently highlighted gains in 5G RAN and cloud-native core. For TIM, the modernization aligns with its restructuring initiatives and ongoing network separation process, ensuring its mobile unit stays competitive as Vodafone Italy and WindTre invest in Open RAN pilots and standalone 5G upgrades.
