the mobile operator market | Italy

1.1 Introduction

A mobile phone operator is a telecommunications company that offers both mobile phone services and mobile Internet access. The operator offers these services by providing a SIM card to the customer, who inserts it into his or her cell phone or tablet to access the network (standard GSM, CDMA, UMTS, WiMAX, or LTE). The mobile operator must also market the product and help its customers by internalizing or outsourcing the processes. There are two main types of mobile operators in Italy: traditional mobile operators, which have their own mobile network (TIM, Vodafone, WindTre, and Fastweb), and virtual mobile operators, which use the network of traditional operators to provide their services.

The global mobile operator market has been valued at $1,657.7 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.4% over the period 2021-2028.

In Italy, in terms of market share, TIM remains the leading operator, with 29 percent of total SIMs, down 0.6% year-on-year. Vodafone follows, with a 28.7% share (-0.1%). However, there are many ways to analyze the market shares of different competitors, as one can refer to physical SIMs as well as e-SIMs, split between retail and business customers. Overall, business SIMs continue to grow, reaching 12.8% of total lines as of March 2021, an increase of 435,000 over the previous year. In contrast, residential lines are experiencing a decline, down more than 1.2 million in one year.

Another significant trend in the mobile operator market is the proliferation of virtual operators, which provide services similar to traditional operators at lower rates. According to AGCOM, virtual operators accounted for 9.7% of total active SIM cards as of March 2021. The only downside of the service provided by virtual operators is that the signal is significantly worse, as they do not have their own network, but rely on traditional operators. However, thanks to new agreements between these two types of operators, this problem may be solved shortly.