From tomorrow Telecom Italia is simplifying its current fixed telephony offers for residential customers, introducing changes, amongst others, to its price plans that also overcome the traditional distinction on the bill between the home line rental charge and the call charges.
In this way, the home phone line evolves into an "All inclusive" offer that offers total freedom of traffic consumption with certainty about the monthly cost, which includes unlimited calls to all fixed and mobile phone numbers in Italy.
In this context, to explain the content of the simplification and the relative pricing changes, and to ensure that customers can make informed and transparent choices, Telecom Italia has decided to extend its methods of communication and strengthen the efficacy, to respond to the findings of AGCOM.
In fact the company will deploy tools that can ensure greater transparency, adopting a new information plan, including improvements to the methods already planned, such as repetition and better highlighting of messages on bills, a new press announcement, news on the company website.
The following communication activities are planned: inclusion of new information messages in outgoing bills within the next few months, publication of news linked directly to the homepage of www.telecomitalia.it (to supplement the news that has featured since February in the section dedicated to Information for consumers) and the repeat publication of a press announcement in the major national daily newspapers.
In addition, customers who do not intend to accept the changed price plans that have been introduced can exercise their right to opt out free of charge with an extension until 30 June 2015.
Telecom Italia will allow customers who have just a basic telephone line without ad hoc price offers to switch free of charge to another offer that better meets their needs. In particular, the company will start a campaign to involve their customers, highlighted in all the new communication channels cited above, with an explicit invitation to go to Tim shops, or call Customer Service on 187, by 31 October 2015, to contact Telecom Italia and if they wish to express their desire to request free switching to the pay-per-use "Voice" offer (at a cost of 19 euros/month plus calls made) with retroactive effect from 1 May 2015 and consequent recalculation of any calls made.
At the same time, the company will identify a group of customers that qualify as "low spend", based on objective criteria; by the end of October 2015 there will be an individual communication aimed at this particular customer group to remind them that, if it is in their interest, they can, up to 31 October 2015, always ask to switch to the "Voice" offer free of charge, or switch to another offer that better meets their needs.
As for guaranteed universal telephone service, it is planned that some categories of customers - specifically, customers with traditional RTG lines that are "silent", i.e. lines on which there has been no voice traffic for 3 consecutive months (from October to December 2014), as well as for customers with the "special conditions" specified in Resolutions 314/00/CONS and 330/01/CONS, or customers who have the Carta Acquisti (the "social card") - will remain on a contract that prescribes pay per use invoicing.
In all cases the company will proceed to work constructively with Agcom on the various profiles of the price plan adjustments, in full compliance with the applicable regulations.
Rome, 30 April 2015
