3 and TIM Fight For 3G Future in Italy

September 28, 2004 - source: BWCS

Hutchison-backed Italian operator 3 has announced ambitious plans to step up its 3G presence in Italy. The newcomer to the Italian mobile market said this morning that it will have 2 million 3G customers by the end of 2004. It currently boasts a subscriber base of 1.5 million.

The announcement came just as telecom Italia Mobile released its next wave of high-profile TV adverts for its TIM-Turbo UMTS/Edge service. Despite the scarcity of 3G handsets for its service, TIM is clearly not to cede too much ground in the 3G turf war to 3.

3's next generation mobile phone network covers almost 67% of the Italian population, some 38 million people. Among its promotional offers it has made 3G handsets available foe as little as euros 19. Meanwhile, one of its low-cost tariffs is offering Italians the chance to make national calls via their 3G phones for only euros 0.19 per minute. In addition customers making more than 200 minutes of calls every month are not yet required to pay the euros 9 a month subscription fee. Its data service costs euros 25 a month for 25Mbs of data. In addition it is offering high-speed mobile modems for euros 49 compared to the euros 399 they cost previously.