Huawei, Telecom Italia claim world's first with HSUPA net
15 Nov 2007 | 15:58 GMT
Doffs the cap to Sicily
CHINESE TELECOMS GIANT Huawei broke open the champagne today to celebrate teaming up with Telecom Italia.
The assembled dignitaries included HE Dong, the Chinese ambassador to Italy, and an array of local politicians, representatives from Huawei and Telecom Italia.
Dignitaries tip up
Sicily is investing in creating advanced systems, said the rep of the region, member of parliament, Guido Lo Porto. He said he was happy that Italia Telecom and Huawei had decided to come to Palermo to hold the meeting and it was the fruit of the awareness shown by the regional authorities in promoting info tech in Sicily.
The island, he said, relies on intelligence and this is a post modern truth. Sicily is already home to three universities and a fourth is on the way as well as a number of polytechnics and scientific institutes.
Telecom Italia and Huawei have replaced the infrastructure in the island - HSUPA (high speed uplink packet access). This lets the network be used at extremely high speeds - 1.92Mbps for uplink and 7.2Mbps for download. Huawei wouldn't say the amount that passed hands, but handsets are included in the deal.
Nocentini from Telecom Italia (TI) said the the worlds of fixed, mobile and entertainment, along with traditional use of IT is still growing. The 1.6 per cent growth is greater in Italy than in other countries. TI needed to leave behind the world of voice services and move towards entertainment and content.
Stefano said that by 2008, 98 per cent of Italians, whether on mountains or in Sicily will have the opportunity to use broadband.
One of the little islands called Pantelleria will become a telcopolis with ADSL, and the creating of wi-fi hot spots making it totally connected.
Patrick Wen, vice president of Huawei, said that that with the deal with TI, it has constructed the world's most advanced UMTS network.
His
excellency HE Dong said that Huawei and TI have signed an agreement that he
endorsed completely. Italy and China have collaborated for 37 years.
Trade between the two countries accounts for around $30 billion. The congress of the Communist Party a few days ago confirmed the friendship and collaboration between Italy and China. µ
© 2007 Incisive Media Investments Ltd. 2007