ROME (WiMAX Day). For the last year, Italian regulators have struggled to open 3.5 GHz radio spectrum for use with WiMAX technology. The spectrum band is presently dedicated for use by the Defense Ministry in Italy. However, according to a report yesterday in La Repubblica, the Defense Minister, Arthur Parisi, conceded that he would relinquish control of the 3.5 GHz spectrum to the Ministry of Communications, with the proviso that the government underwrite the cost of upgrading the radars that today occupy the spectrum. According to Minister Parisi, the cost would be € 400 million Euros. The Minister of Communications, Paul Gentiloni, confirmed in the report that his colleague at the Defense Ministry had indeed proposed a price for the spectrum denominated in Euro and not the old inflated Italian Lira. He further noted that half of this sum would build a WiMAX network for all of Italy, and furthermore the entire radar system currently used in the 3.5 GHz spectrum in Italy could be replaced for one-twentieth of the price proposed by the Defense Ministry.