French operator Iliad will launch its Italian mobile operation under the Iliad brand by the summer, new Italy CEO Benedetto Levi told La Repubblica in the first interview since his appointment in January. “Our objective has always been to land by this summer, with the Iliad brand,” said Levi, before going on to refute the low-cost label. “We’ll be a normal operator, not an MVNO, with our own network,” said the chief executive, adding that Iliad’s tariffs will be “cheaper and more transparent, without neglecting quality" and that the aim was to entice consumers who have lost confidence in traditional operators over controversial practices such as 28-day billing.
The operator’s team is already over 100 strong and the company is hiring many people with a view to becoming an “important” player in the market, said Levi without disclosing specific targets. He did reveal that Iliad would have national coverage from the outset, albeit initially relying partly on Wind Tre’s network. The operator reportedly reached a deal last month to rent out capacity on the 7,766 Italian towers owned Spanish operator Cellnex Telecom.
Last year Iliad founder Xavier Niel said the goal of the company’s first international venture was reach 10 to 15 percent of the Italian mobile market as soon as possible with aggressive offers.
