Huawei
and Vodafone have signed a contract on October 7, 2010 to upgrade Vodafone's
network in Italy using HSPA+ (Evolved High-Speed Packet Access) technology, according
to Il Sole 24 Ore of Italy. The five-year contract is reported to be valued at
one billion Euros (US$1.39 billion; US$1=0.72 Euros). Via upgrading its
network, Vodafone aims to expand its mobile broadband to cover approximately
12% of the Italian population, with a speed of at least 2Mbps.
Meanwhile,
Huawei and Vodafone also plan to invest 10 million Euros (US$13.89 million) in
establishing a broadband research center. It is projected that the new research
center will be located in Milan, Italy.