Aria, an Italian WiMAX operator, is joining forces with Telecom Italia to deploy a WiMAX network covering the central and southern regions of Italy and the island of Sardinia. Aria will utilise Telecom Italia's 3.5GHz spectrum allocation for the service and the operator's transport network for backhaul. In return Telecom Italia will have access to Aria's nationwide wholesale services. The Italian operator acquired three regional 3.5GHz licences for 13.8 million euros but has to date not made any use of the spectrum. The deal with Aria will enable Telecom Italia to comply with its licence requirements for very little expenditure as Aria will pick up the deployment and maintenance costs of the new WiMAX network.
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