Make a phone call, send an SMS or surf the web Internet da smartphone it costs less and less in Italy. This is revealed by a study commissioned by Assotelecommunications-Asstel, the Tlc association, created in collaboration with the Vito Volterra Center of the University of Rome Tor Vergata which examined the tariff plans and mobile phone deals of the four main operators in Italy: Tim, Vodafone, Wind and H3G.
According to the study by AssTel and the University of Tor Vergata from January 2011 to December 2013 the mobile phone rates plummeted by 46,7%, with voice and SMS services down by 45,3% and Internet services by 50,1%. A result that seems to clash strongly with the data that Istat had provided for the two-year period January 2011 - January 2013, even noting a 0,9% increase in the tariff plans of the four telephone companies.
Why is there such a significant discrepancy between the AssTel data and those provided by Istat? The telephone companies have identified this difference in the fact that the national statistical institute, in the calculations, did not consider the 'package offers'. In the Istat studies, therefore, the tariff options launched in recent years by operators who, against payment of a weekly or monthly amount (for example 10 euros), provide users with a package of minutes, text messages or internet traffic. A method, the latter, which has met with considerable success because, usually, in addition to allowing significant savings, it allows greater control over the overall expenditure.
And actually after the methodological review implemented by Istat in January 2013 data from the national statistical institute revealed a 15,4% drop in tariffs from January to December 2013.
Initially the telephone companies had activated this type of tariff options only at certain times of the year (Christmas or during the summer months) but in recent years this type of 'package offers' have actually spread rapidly to become an integral part, lasting and structural of the commercial proposals of Tlc operators. Offersthose relating to mobile network and more generally to mobile, which have contributed to substantial savings for users. In fact, according to the AssTel-Tor Vergata study, it emerges that for an entry level profile, i.e. for a contained tariff package, the monthly savings it stands at between 8 and 10 euros, while the average consumer, who uses the internet more often, has been able to benefit from savings of around 20 euros per month, ie about 240 euros a year.
The drop in telephone and internet tariffs has contributed in recent years to loosening the grip of the crisis somewhat and not further emptying the pockets of Italians. Indeed, it must be remembered that, according to a study by Federconsumatori, in the last 10 years the rates of services on household spending have increased by 41%, at twice the rate of inflation. The only sector to have recorded a decline in the last 10 years is precisely that of telephone services whose tariffs have decreased by 15,7% in recent years.
