Italy applies the European directive on communications and puts end of 48-month contracts for the purchase of smartphones. The new implementing regulation, approved on 4 November by the Council of Ministers with a legislative decree, establishes that contracts they will not be able to go further the 24 months and provides that among the offers provided by telephone operators to their customers, at least one must have a duration of 12 months.
The rule will not apply in cases where the contract has been stipulated in installments and only provides for the installation of a connection, also including ultra-broadband ones. In the event that the contract provides for automatic renewal, the user will have the option of terminating it without additional costs or penalties, simply notifying one month in advance.
An important point of the decree is paragraph 6, which establishes that if there should be differences between the pre-established contractual conditions and the services provided, the consumer will have the possibility to terminate it without penalties or additional costs.
A maneuver which is aimed at consumers but which has been seen by operators as a further blow to the mobile telephony sector which is already having to deal with a unstable and fragmented market. Looking at the data from 4 years ago, in fact, there is a 27% drop in SIM subscriptions. Internet data traffic, on the contrary, continues to grow, quintupling compared to 2017 data.
The legislative decree, approved on 4 November, has not yet been published in the Official Gazette but operators are harmonizing and preparing to offer new contracts in view of Christmas shopping.
