VODAFONE ITALIA AND FASTWEB TOGETHER IN ITALIAN HOMES
COMPETITIVE AGREEMENT TO EXPAND CUSTOMER OFFERING
GUINDANI: BEYOND MOBILE WITH TOTAL COMMUNICATION SOLUTIONS
PARISI: REPRESENTING THE CUTTING-EDGE IN ITALIAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Milan 15 September 2006 - Vodafone Italia and FASTWEB announce a commercial agreement designed to widen customers' freedom of choice and expand the market: the new offering combines the best in mobile communications with the ultimate in broadband and aims to meet the needs of people looking for the latest in voice and internet communication to talk, connect to the web and access entertainment.
The agreement was illustrated today by Pietro Guindani, CEO of Vodafone Italia, and Stefano Parisi, CEO of Fastweb.
The first example of this cooperation is the launch of Vodafone Casa FASTWEB. This solution enables customers, when at home, to use their cell phones to make calls to all fixed-line and mobile numbers, benefiting form the low costs of a landline phone, and install an ADSL modem giving them broadband access at speeds of up to 20 Mbps, thanks to FASTWEB's optic fibre network.
Customers of the two companies will at the same time be offered Vodafone Infinity FASTWEB, a convergent offering for calls between Vodafone mobile phones and FASTWEB's fixed-line devices.
The agreement marks the first stage of an alliance that will lead to the launch of new products for business customers, and commercial initiatives designed to benefit everyone choosing to become a customer of the two operators.
"Vodafone Italia," explained CEO Pietro Guindani, "has chosen a leading broadband provider as its partner in order to offer customers total communication solutions. Thanks to today's agreement, we are the first mobile company to supply an ADSL service of the highest quality alongside our Vodafone Casa mobile service, combining low-cost fixed-line telephony with easy-to-use mobile communication. Our customers' freedom of choice is the core issue around which we have built our strategy. The tie-up with Fastweb," concluded Pietro Guindani, "is proof that competition is the only way of ensuring innovation".
"This agreement," underlined CEO Stefano Parisi, "confirms FASTWEB's belief in innovation as a means of boosting the market and competition. Having been the first to launch triple-play services, FASTWEB is today joining with Vodafone to present integrated fixed-mobile solutions, combining the very best offerings from two operators supplied over some of the most advanced networks in the world. This agreement - the first of its kind - represents a real step forward for our customers, in terms of both offerings and freedom of choice, further confirming our leadership in the Italian telecommunications sector."