5G in Milan is practically a reality. Exactly one year after its start, Vodafone's experimentation in the metropolitan area is booming: 80% of the population is already reached by the new technology. "Milan is not only the Italian but European capital of 5G, the most advanced city on the continent in the development of the new network", said both the managing director of Vodafone Italia, Aldo Bisio, and the mayor of Milan Beppe Sala. A technology that already boasts 120 active sites in the metropolitan area, which is the result of teamwork (among Vodafone's main partners are the Politecnico di Milano, Huawei, Nokia, Qualcomm, and dozens of other subjects including companies, universities , startups and institutions) and which will change the face of the city in the years to come thanks to characteristics that were unthinkable until a few years ago: connection speed increased tenfold from 1 to 10 Gbps, latency time reduced to 1-10 milliseconds from the current 20-30, and the possibility of connecting millions and millions of objects and sensors.
In 2019 the coverage of Milan (and 4 other cities in Italy: Rome, Turin, Naples and Bologna) will be completed and, manufacturing companies permitting, it will already be possible before the summer to purchase and use smartphones with 5G technology throughout the territory. But 5G is above all an enabling technology: the one that will allow a revolution in services, transport, security systems, logistics, healthcare and industry. The technology, to be clear, that will make possible the spread of self-driving cars and a series of Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence solutions that are already being tested in the 31 pilot projects already launched (out of the total 41 envisaged) by Vodafone and the other partners. 5G is ultimately the technology of the so-called smart city which will allow, for example, according to a study by the Milan Polytechnic, to reduce smog, traffic, crime, energy waste. One fact: the mere introduction of self-driving cars will help spread the culture of car sharing, reducing the car fleet and freeing up spaces now destined for parking for an area equivalent to that of 2.000 San Siro stadiums. An opportunity not only to change city life, but also to rethink the city itself.
“The experimentation in Milan – he said the managing director of Vodafone Italia, Aldo Bisio, recalling that Vodafone has invested more than 90 million euros in the experimentation in the Milanese metropolitan area alone – he confirmed the disruptive effect of 5G, which it will redesign all the industrial chains, will open up new internationalization opportunities for Italian companies, and will affect the well-being of the communities. 5G will be the essential basis for creating real social innovation in cities: we started from Milan but from January we will start covering other large Italian cities". The work throughout the national territory, starting with the first four cities that will follow Milan, will be possible thanks to the acquisition of the frequency package after the auction announced by the Mise a few weeks ago, for which Vodafone won the rights with an investment total of 2,4 billion euros.
However, there are elements of concern. The first is as always that of protection of personal data, which in increasingly connected scenarios "inevitably needs a new regulation", as promised by the deputy Alessandro Morelli, president of the Transport, Post and Telecommunications Commission in the Chamber, speaking at the press conference in Milan. But there is also the issue of work, given that 5G will accelerate the spread of robotics in industry and of AI solutions in general. However, a study by Polimi specifies that, if it is true that many activities will be replaced by machines, only 10% of trades will disappear altogether, and above all that through the so-called reskilling (the training of workers to new needs) 95% of jobs can be saved.
