TIM is the first operator in Europe to deploy Huawei’s CloudRAN technology, which is designed to enable better performances and increased LTE network capacity where needed.

Italian mobile operator TIM (Telecom Italia) has become the first network to launch Huawei’s CloudRAN technology after deploying it in Palermo, Sicily. The trial is designed to anticipate the requirements of future 5G network architectures and to prove the capabilities of ‘intelligent’ 4G in improving quality and efficiency of next generation mobile networks.

CloudRAN is a wireless access network concentrating signal elaboration in a centralised location. It enables operators to improve performances where requirements are more demanding and to optimise spectrum resources according to specific needs.

It allows the coordination of radio signals and extends LTE Advanced performances, such as carrier aggregation, which today can reach download speeds of up to 300 Mbit/s. It also enables the operator to better manage interference issues.

The CloudRAN network in Palermo will enable significant benefits, including increased carrier aggregation coverage and higher speeds in download and upload. The trial was carried out in Palermo on live network radio base stations; i.e. those used daily by customers.

TIM had already tried Huawei’s CloudRAN technology in its Turin TIMLab and the excellent results in terms of performance and capacity stimulated the ‘live’ trial with TIM customers in Palermo, the first ones in Europe to benefit from the new technology.

CloudRAN architecture allows improved user experience of mobile broadband services, facilitates mobile network operations and paves the way to 5G evolution, the next generation of mobile networks and services.