Iliad could diversify its offer in Italy by focusing on exclusive content and 5G. Find out what will change for Italian customers
Market share of 3% and over 2.7 million activated cards: Iliad's debut in Italy has recorded numbers that at the eve were difficult to predict. Thanks to a very clear communication strategy and competitive prices, the fourth Italian telephone operator has given a strong shake to a market that seemed to be saturated and instead has found new momentum.
Almost a year after its official debut, the time has come for Iliad to lay the foundations for continued growth. And a model to follow already exists: France, where Iliad is diversifying its offer to increase revenues and customers. In France, the company not only offers a mobile service, but also fixed-line telephony and cable TV. In recent months, it has been launching monthly subscriptions that include Internet connection, unlimited phone calls, basic subscription to Netflix and Freebox Tv, a streaming video service owned by Iliad. And just streaming TV and content are the challenge that the company wants to win in the coming years, also focusing on the Italian market.
Iliad will also offer content?
For the moment, the Italian market contributes a small percentage to the company's revenues, but the goal is to increasingly increase Iliad's importance in Italy. And the only way to do that is to diversify the markets and focus on new technologies. In France, the company also offers deals for the fixed telephone network, but for the moment it doesn't seem to be the market Iliad wants to focus on in Italy. In fact, it would seem that the company has plans to invest in multimedia content, especially movies and TV series.
With the success of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, more and more companies are interested in selling original content to their customers. And even Iliad would seem to be interested in launching its own streaming service in Italy. The first step was the purchase at the beginning of the year of the film and television production company Palomar (known worldwide especially for producing Il Commissario Montalbano). To buy the majority of the group was the French company Mediawan owned by Xavier Neil, owner also of Iliad. Many see this purchase as the first step towards offering exclusive content in Italy through a new streaming platform.
The other market Iliad is investing in is 5G. The company has promised to invest more than €2 billion in the superfast network over the next few years, and work has already begun. The 5G network, along with exclusive content, could be part of the new offer that Iliad will propose to Italian customers in the coming years.