Telecom Italia and Inwit joined forces in deploying small cells in major cities in Italy, a move claimed to improve phone signal performance and boost 5G rollouts in the country.

In a statement, Telecom Italia said the collaboration is expected to result in the installation of approximately 100 small cells in the cities of Milan and Genoa, before expanding to other cities and areas with “high traffic density”.

The operator noted micro-antennas will be required for the deployment and functioning of an optimal 5G network, as they feature low latency and tenfold increase in data transmission speed compared with previous systems.

Telecom Italia noted the efforts were part of an agreement with Inwit from March governing the hospitality services on the sites, before divesting its major stake in the tower unit in October.

The company also assured integrity, especially in venues “with a remarkable artistic value” and ancient towns in Italy, would not be altered following the small antennas deployment.