Sky's CEO confirmed the launch of fixed telephony offers: how they work and the price
After many rumors, it's now official: Sky becomes a telephone operator also in Italy. This was stated during an event dedicated to the first 20 years of Gambero Rosso, by the CEO of the Pay TV company, Maximo Ibarra.
Ibarra also confirmed the date, although remaining generic: "from next year". Sky will become an operator of fixed telephony and Internet and will almost certainly offer an "all inclusive" offer, with telephony, Internet and premium content included. It goes without saying that it will do so using Open Fiber, with which it entered into an agreement over a year and a half ago, while nothing is yet known about Sky's possible entry into the mobile phone market. The year 2020, however, is just around the corner and therefore it's not long before we see yet another transformation of Sky Italia from a simple pay TV to a "multiplatform hub".
Fixed telephony and Internet: what Sky will do
Maximo Ibarra spoke explicitly about telephony and Internet and hinted that the company will offer them as a package with pay TV: "We are a multiplatform company. We will enter the world of fixed telephony and internet next year and we will say to the customer: don't worry, we take care of everything." At the end of March 2018, Sky entered into a strategic partnership with Open Fiber, the company controlled by Enel Energia and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti that has brought Fiber to the Home technology up to 1 Gbit speeds to more than 100 Italian cities, large and small. Open Fiber doesn't sell Internet connections to individual consumers: it's a "wholesale" operator that leases its infrastructure to others.
Sky Italia: what all-inclusive offers will look like
Sky Italia's idea is simple: if the company offers a single subscription to Internet and content, it can hope to keep customers and not let them slip away. There are too many competitors, today, and their offers are too advantageous both for sports and soccer and for movies and TV series. If Sky wants to remain a "premium" operator, it must offer more: "So that the customer doesn't have to leave the hub anymore", as Ibarra said.
What's changing for Sky customers
More than changes, we should talk about opportunities for those who are already Sky customers. With the launch of offers for fixed telephony, customers will be able to sign up to more advantageous offers which, as well as Sky content, also include a subscription for their home telephone.
Sky also becomes a mobile operator?
The last knot to unravel, however, is that of mobile telephony. For some time there has been talk of the possibility of the company becoming a mobile virtual operator, as it has already done in the United Kingdom with Sky Mobile. Of this aspect, however, Maximo Ibarra has not spoken. At the moment, therefore, only indiscretions remain.