Vodafone virtual mobile commitments accepted by Italy's antitrust authority

Italy’s antitrust authority said it has accepted commitments made by Vodafone Group PLC to open its network to virtual mobile operators, ending its probe into Vodafone without imposition of sanctions.

The authority said its decision follows contracts signed by Vodafone with BT Group PLC and Carrefour enabling them to set up Italian virtual mobile operations, plus a similar preliminary contract with Poste Italiane.

‘The authority has considered the contract signed by Vodafone with BT Italia for wholesale access services to its network to be a decisive element,’ the authority said in a statement.

BT will be able to offer a wide range of mobile services including GSM, GPRS and UMTS as well as offering integrated fixed-mobile and mobile-mobile services for company customers, it said.

‘In addition, the contract’s conditions on termination fees allow BT Italia to make a fixed-mobile offer to company clients that competes with the one offered by Vodafone,’ it said.

On the Italian post office preliminary contract, the authority said this is particularly important because of the extensive sales network the post office has available.

The authority launched its investigation into mobile sector competition in February 2005, with Telecom Italia SpA and Wind Telecommunicazioni SpA also being probed.