After a first offensive on the Italian mobile market in 2016, the Iliad holding company is now trying to find a place in the fixed market. The parent company of Free has just launched a fixed offer by betting once again on a formula based on prices pulled down.
“For months, we have received many requests from our mobile customers to launch a fiber offer, because they are tired of the lack of transparency in this market,” said Benedetto Levi, general manager of iliad in Italy during of the presentation of this new offer.
As a result, Free Italy has just launched a no-commitment mobile and landline plan at the rate of 15.99 euros per month for current iliad subscribers in Italy and 23.99 euros for others. If the operator, which today claims 8.5 million mobile subscribers, does not have its own network in La Grande Botte, it intends to focus initially on partnerships to satisfy its customers.
Speeds up to 5 Gb/s
Xavier Niel’s group will thus rely on the OpenFiber fiber optic network, 60% controlled by the Italian Caisse des dépôts (CDP). The hypothesis of using the FiberCop network, a joint venture owned by Telecom Italia, Fastweb and the American investment fund KKR, is also mentioned.
At stake ? “An ultra-fast fiber optic connection at an affordable price,” promises Benedetto Levi, referring to a “maximum speed of up to 5 Gb/s.
Enough to allow Iliad, with its 10.5% market share in the mobile sector in Italy, to compete directly with the incumbent operator Telecom Italia (Tim), which largely dominates the fixed sector, also driven by Vodafone, Fastweb and Windtre. As a reminder, the turnover recorded by Free Italia in the third quarter of 2021 amounted to 207 million euros, an increase of 22.1% over the first nine months of the year.