Telecom Italia, COOP launch MVNO

Italian operator Telecom Italia announced an agreement with retailer COOP to launch COOPVoce, the nation's first MVNO service. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, although the contract excludes Telecom Italia from inking virtual mobile operator partnerships with other retail brands. COOP, Italy's largest retailer with over 1,300 outlets, a 17.1 percent market share and 6.5 million customers, will launch service trials in April, with an official launch scheduled for late summer.

In a news conference announcing the deal, COOP Italia CEO Vincenzo Tassinari said COOPVoce is targeting 1 million customers and annual sales of €200 million within three years' time. According to Telecom Italia CEO Riccardo Ruggiero, he sees little risk of losing his own mobile subscribers in the process: "There is scarce or non-existent cannibalization" of Telecom Italia customers, he said in the news conference, adding there is "a lot of value added" in partnering with COOP.

 For more on COOPVoce:
- read this Forbes article

Related article:
- Mobile TV takes off in Italy