Iliad being used as 'scapegoat' by rival operators - CEO

Rivals are using the low-cost policy of Italian mobile operator Iliad Italia as an excuse for their poor performance, the company’s CEO Benedetto Levi told Il Sole 24 Ore in an interview. “They use us as scapegoats and blame us for all the faults of the world. On the contrary, we are bringing benefits to consumers but also to the industry,” he said. The Italian subsidiary of France’s Iliad quickly reached 2 million customers by the end of September, just a few months after unveiling its launch offer of 30GB of data, plus unlimited calls and SMS for EUR 5.99 a month. It subsequently increased the data bundle to 50GB for EUR 7.99 a month and grew to 2.8 million customers at the end of December.

In reply to operators who regard Iliad's rates as detrimental to competition in mobile telecommunications, Levi said: “if we are talking about the drop in revenues, there are other causes… the return to monthly invoicing… cancellation of additional EU roaming costs… and increasing use of OTT services that have significantly reduced the use of SMS." The chief executive added that, in his view, the intensification of competition brings innovation and investment for the benefit of the industry as a whole.

A recent report revealed that the average monthly price of an Italian mobile plan plunged by 22 percent in 2018, from around EUR 15 to EUR 12, due to the price war unleashed following Iliad’s launch. Bundled data has in turn surged, with an average prepay bundle rising some 130 percent from 12GB in January 2018 to 28GB in January 2019.