Pietro Labriola told investors that TIM is seeing interest from tower companies in developing around 6,000 additional sites, with a rollout pace of roughly 500 sites per year shared across operators.
In sum – what to know:
Tower strategy – TIM chief executive officer Pietro Labriola reiterated the company’s multi-pronged infrastructure strategy focused on RAN sharing, third-party towers, and a planned joint venture with Fastweb.
5G expansion – The agreements are designed to support a faster and more capital-efficient 5G rollout, particularly in lower-density areas, while reducing infrastructure duplication.
INWIT path – TIM also detailed its potential transition away from INWIT infrastructure over time, alongside a review process tied to Poste Italiane’s tender offer.
Italian telco TIM is advancing a three-part tower and network infrastructure strategy aimed at accelerating 5G deployment while reducing long-term infrastructure and capital costs, the telco’s chief executive officer Pietro Labriola told investors during a conference call.
Labriola said TIM and Fastweb have reached a preliminary RAN-sharing agreement covering approximately 15,500 existing sites. “This will support a faster and more capital-efficient 5G rollout, particularly in lower density areas, while preserving full commercial and technological independence,” Labriola said.
He added that the approach would help avoid duplication of infrastructure while delivering “midterm cost and capex efficiencies.”
The executive also said the companies signed a non-binding agreement to establish a tower joint venture expected to develop and manage around 6,000 new mobile sites. The venture would be equally owned by TIM and Fastweb and structured as an open-access model.
“We also see potential to bring in third-party investors over time to further optimize the financial structure,” Labriola said.
The executive also provided additional details regarding the company’s long-term infrastructure strategy involving Italian tower firm INWIT. He said TIM had served notice of termination for its master service agreement with INWIT effective August 2030, while noting that the effective date could move to March 31, 2028 depending on the outcome of matters related to Fastweb’s earlier termination notice.
Labriola explained that TIM’s strategy is built around three infrastructure pillars. The first involves leveraging existing third-party towers. According to the executive, the Italian market currently offers around 30,000 towers outside INWIT, with TIM planning to use about 8,500 of those sites. “This provides significant flexibility and avoids the need for incremental capital deployment,” he said.
The second pillar focuses on towers developed by third parties. Labriola said TIM is seeing interest from tower companies in developing around 6,000 additional sites, with a rollout pace of roughly 500 sites per year shared across operators.
He also noted that about 80% of existing INWIT sites already host both TIM and Fastweb, making future tower developments attractive due to built-in double tenancy.
The third pillar involves towers developed through the planned joint venture with Fastweb. According to Labriola, this would add another 6,000 sites over the next 12 years, with flexibility to adjust rollout timing depending on market conditions.
The executive said smaller-town site locations and the RAN-sharing agreement itself would simplify migration and deployment processes.
Labriola also briefly addressed Poste Italiane’s voluntary public tender and exchange offer involving TIM, saying the company’s board had appointed financial and legal advisers and launched a structured review process.
