Telecom Italia would be happy to expand 5G accord to Iliad: CEO

Reuters

FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - Telecom Italia would be happy to share the cost of securing 5G frequencies with other operators such as France's Iliad in addition to Vodafone, the chief executive of the Italian telecoms incumbent said.

"The accord has an open architecture and we would be happy if other operators wanted to join in. 5G frequencies were very expensive ... so it's important to share costs," CEO Luigi Gubitosi said.

"We have shouldered the bulk of the costs with Vodafone ... we'll meet with Iliad as we meet habitually with all operators and we hope to find some common ground."

(Reporting by Silvia Ognibene, writing by Valentina Za, editing by Stephen Jewkes)