The arrival of Iliad on the Italian mobile telephony market should trigger a generalized drop in prices. The basic theory is the classic, linear one: when competition increases, operators adapt by reducing tariffs in order not to lose competitiveness. But is that really what is happening?
Let's start with the new factor that promises to wreak havoc. Iliad Italia aims to conquer market shares with a particularly advantageous offer: unlimited minutes and SMS plus 30 GB of internet at a cost of 5,99 euros every 30 days.
And how do the other operators react? For the moment, not even the shadow of a drop. On the contrary: second an analysis of SosTariffe.it, in the last 12 months the average price of rechargeable cards has increased slightly, going from 11,61 to 12,41 euros. More than double the introductory price of Iliad Italia.
The increase is due to the fact that, after the disputes by Agcom, the tax decree of last November imposed the carrying over from April 2018 the billing period from 28 to 30 days. The companies thus find themselves collecting one less payment every year and to compensate for the loss they have decided en masse to raise the rates. In essence, we pay 12 bills instead of 13, but at a slightly higher price. So nothing has changed?
Not really, because in the meantime, in the face of rising prices, the offers have been enriched. On average, again according to the numbers of SosTariffe.it, the minutes included have risen from 1.309 to 1.853, text messages from 364 to 904 and gigabytes from 6 to 12. Furthermore, today it is much easier to find commercial offers with unlimited minutes included ( +9,09%).
However, if we broaden the horizon and also include virtual operators in the analysis (those who do not have their own network, such as Kena Mobile, which uses the Tim network, and PosteMobile, which relies on Wind Tre's infrastructure), the average unweighted records a reduction in prices from 12,15 euros in 2017 to 10,96 euros today. The challenge is open, we just have to wait.
