Italy’s leading operator, 3 Italia has signed an extension of its network transformation agreement with Ericsson to better meet the mobile data traffic growth..

Ericsson will transform and upgrade 3 Italia’s existing 3G mobile broadband access, core and transport network to support 42Mbps HSPA and 100Mbps LTE, or 4G. With this contract, Ericsson strengthens its position as main supplier for 3 Italia.

Once the work is complete, 3 Italia users will enjoy a world-class mobile broadband network with increased speed, coverage, capacity, performance and services. By the end of March 2012, 3 Italia will be the only operator in Italy to offer up to 42 Mbps downlink coverage and up to 5,76 Mpbs in uplink on all its nationwide network and have the network ready for commercial launch of 100 Mbps LTE in 2012.

 “We are making HSPA+ coverage available on the entire nationwide network from the end of March and will launch LTE services already in 2012. Our network will become even more efficient at handling data traffic, ensuring a better quality of experience for our customers”, said Vincenzo Novari, 3 Italia’s CEO.

“It is great to help our long-term partner, 3 Italia, continue its transformation into high-speed mobile broadband and LTE at a time when dynamism and innovation are so important”, said Nunzio Mirtillo, Ericsson’s head of Region Mediterranean.