TIM Leads 4.5G In Italy With 500 Mbps Mobile Download Speeds

Mobile operator TIM has become the first to offer download speeds of 500 Mbps on its mobile 4.5G network for its business and retail customers in Rome, Palermo and Sanremo.

Available on the Sony Xperia XZ smartphone, the service gives Italian customers access to a faster transmission speed, a stable browsing experience and the ability to consume HD and 4K video content on the go with films downloading in a matter of minutes.

The Xperia XZ is the first smartphone in Europe that can reach browsing speeds of 500 Mbps on TIM’s 4.5G network and features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor with LTE X12, capable of supporting the new L band and the new coding and modulation techniques introduced on TIM’s 4.5G network.

Need for speed

“Starting today, our customers will be able to browse on their smartphones at the top speeds available, enjoying for example 4K content on the move without having to compromise on quality. For TIM this represents another significant achievement in the development of offers moving towards 5G,” said Stefano Azzi, head of consumer at TIM.

“Thanks to the innovation of our services the user experience will be even more engaging and the solutions and applications proposed will allow customers to access TIMvision and TIMmusic, in addition to all other premium contents. Finally, by collaborating with the leading technological players, we are the first ones in Italy to offer our customers the latest generation devices with cutting-edge technological standards.”

Following the three initial locations, the network will spread to Naples, Milan and Turin in the next few weeks and will continue to expand into other cities that are already covered by the 300 Mbps service in 2017.

4.5G networks have gathered momentum in 2016 as operators look to develop network speeds. It was a key topic of conversation at Mobile World Congress earlier this year, with Huawei describing it as something that will bring “a big, big change” to the mobile browsing experience.

What do you know about UK mobile operators? Find out with our quiz!