3 Italia has signed an extension of its network transformation agreement with Ericsson.

As per the conditions of the contract, Ericsson will upgrade 3 Italia’s existing 3G mobile broadband access, core and transport network to support 42Mbps HSPA and 100Mbps LTE, or 4G.

Once the work is complete, 3 Italia users can avail of an enhanced 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.

Commenting on the same, Vincenzo Novari, 3 Italia’s CEO, said, “Thanks to our continued successful cooperation with Ericsson, we will remain a reference for innovation and network development in the Italian market. We are taking another step toward meeting the demand for mobile broadband connectivity and services from Italian consumers and enterprises. 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.”

The deal marks another step in the long-standing collaboration between 3 Italia and Ericsson, which started in 2001 when 3 Italia chose Ericsson as the main partner for its 3G core and access technology.

In 2005, the operator assigned Ericsson as exclusive partner for managed services of its multi-vendor network and telecom IS/IT infrastructure. In 2009, 3 Italia awarded Ericsson a network transformation deal to upgrade its WCDMA/HSPA network and extend the managed services deal.