Telecommunications industry in Italy - Statistics & Facts

Fixed-line vs. mobile services

Mobile has slowly become the mainstream communication method in Italy, replacing fixed-line telephones. For the past twenty years, the number of fixed telephone subscriptions have been steadily decreasing in the country, as have wired communication revenues. However, with the advent of smartphones and their ability to connect to the internet, communications methods have dramatically changed through the development of mobile services. Because of the growing popularity of free messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger - services that also allow users to make voice and video calls - the average revenue per unit of mobile voice services (ARPU) has dropped to below two euro cents per minute.

At home or outside, always connected to the internet

Nowadays, both fixed and mobile lines are mainly used to access the internet. As technology advances, DSL technology lines have been slowly replaced by fiber-optic technology, which instead of old telephone lines, uses newer coaxial lines that carry more bandwidth and are twice as fast as DSL lines. In recent years, the number of broadband and ultra-broadband lines grew in Italy. Most of these lines were Tim’s, which is by far the leading fixed-line broadband provider, occupying over 53 percent of the market. As regards mobile internet connection, accessing the internet from mobile devices has become quite the norm. Indeed, in the last decade, mobile data traffic has exponentially increased. Over the years, mobile carriers have adjusted their SIM subscription plan offers according to the latest trend developments. With the 5G rollout, Wind 3, Tim, and Vodafone – the leading SIM card operators among private and business customers – have recently committed to providing the latest technology to clients within the Italian peninsula. By 2025, it is forecast that around 38 percent of mobile connections will be 5G.

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