Iliad is ready to debut in Italy with the first fixed network offers already by 2021. It will rely on Open Fiber's network
In its industrial development plan, Iliad had set the arrival of the first fixed network offers by 2024. But the launch could come much earlier than expected, already by 2021. This is said by Benedetto Levi, CEO of Iliad Italy, who in an interview with Milano Finanza said that the company is looking with great interest at this new market and that it is already moving so that the first offers can debut as soon as possible.
The decision to push on the accelerator came after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has shown how important it is for Italy to have reliable players that make investments on their network to improve the service. Iliad has already begun informal talks with Open Fiber, one of the companies that is building the fiber network in Italy that it then leases to individual operators. This is the choice Iliad seems to have made to debut on the fixed line: no investment to build a new network, but a commercial agreement "to rent" Open Fiber's network.
How will Iliad's fixed network be
Iliad has no plans to make investments to build a new fiber network that connects all of Italy. It would be too big a cost and above all it would slow down the market debut. For this reason, the company seems to have opted for the most logical choice: to lean on Open Fiber, a network that now connects most Italian cities and that in the next few years will cover 100% of the territory.
On Open Fiber are already leaning other operators, a sign that the service is reliable. Iliad should use Open Fiber's network to offer new customers a high-speed fiber connection. This will allow on the one hand to reduce the initial costs and on the other to speed up the debut on the fixed network market.
Iliad fixed network offers
For the moment from Iliad does not leak anything regarding the offers for the fixed network. We are still in the early stages and making assumptions about prices is complicated, as well as misleading. A help, however, could come from France, the country where Iliad was born and where it already offers rates for the fixed line. Rates that provide monthly subscriptions also including multimedia content, such as subscriptions to cable TV or video streaming platforms. Offers that could be proposed also in Italy, in order to capture new customers. The only certain thing concerns the policy that will move Iliad in the fixed network market: fixed price and no hidden costs.