The story
In December 1995, Omnitel Sistemi Radiocellulari Italiani (founded on 19 June 1990, by Olivetti, Lehman Brothers, Bell Atlantic, and Telia) and the Pronto Italia consortium (made up of Zignago Vetro, AirTouch, Mannesmann, Banca di Roma, Arca Merchant, Comeba, Ersel, Erg, Urmet TLC, Spal TLC, Site, Ponti Radio and Fergia) merged to form Omnitel Pronto Italia. The merged entity launched Italy's second mobile telephony service, after TIM (formerly SIP). Through Omnitel and the fixed-line operator Infostrada, majority shareholder Olivetti became the first private competitor to Telecom Italia, which until then had monopolized the entire Italian telecommunications sector.
In 1999, Olivetti sold its interest in Omnitel and Infostrada to the German conglomerate Mannesmann, after Olivetti took control of Telecom Italia. By this time, Mannesmann increased its equity stake in Omnitel to 53.7%. The following year, the Vodafone merger with Mannesmann effectively granted Vodafone control over the Italian operator. This ownership change led to a series of corporate realignments. In 2001, the company was renamed Omnitel Vodafone S.p.A., followed by Vodafone Omnitel S.p.A. in early 2002. In December 2002, a major simplification of the existing group structure took place via the merger of six companies directly or indirectly controlled by the group: Vodafone Omnitel S.p.A., Pronto Italia S.p.A., Omnitel Sistemi Radiocellulari S.p.A., Omnitel 2000 S.p.A., Oliman Holding II BV and Omnistrada BV. These entities were merged into a Dutch investment vehicle, leading to the transfer of the registered office from Ivrea to Amsterdam. Consequently, the company changed from an Italian società per azioni (S.p.A.) to a Dutch naamloze vennootschap (N.V.) named Vodafone Omnitel N.V.
In 2004, the company launched UMTS services in 140 cities. Two years later, it lso launched HSPA services.
In 2007, Vodafone bought the Italian and Spanish branches of Tele2.
Following the acquisition of Tele2 Italia (in 2010 renamed TeleTu), in 2008, Vodafone launched in Italy XDSL services, offering Wi-Fi and VoIP to its customers, and between 2013 and 2014, launched also FTTX services.
In 2012 has enabled LTE technology services in Milan and Rome.
In 2013, Vodafone acquired Verizon's 23.1% stake for $6.1 billion, gaining 100% control and converting the entity to a besloten vennootschap (B.V.).
Between 2014 and 2015, started enabling LTE-A and VoLTE services to its mobile customers, and in 2017 launched LTE-A Pro services in Milan, Palermo and Florence.
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On 23 November 2015, the company moved its legal residence in Turin, returning to be a joint-stock company legally registered in Italy.
On 23 January 2017, Vodafone launched the brand Ho Mobile, to provide low-cost mobile telephony services in competition with Iliad. It was owned by Vodafone until its acquisition by Fastweb.
In 2019 launched 5G NR services in Milan, Rome, Turin, Naples and Bologna. Its GigaNetwork 5G is considered the evolution of the previous GigaNetwork 4.5G, which has been re-used to launch the 5G service.
In 2021 the company shuts down its 3G network, in order to enhance the 4G and 5G ones.
On 15 March 2024, Swisscom announced its intention to acquire 100% of Vodafone Italia for €8 billion, with the closing expected to take place in the first quarter of 2025, integrating it with its subsidiary Fastweb. As part of the agreement, Vodafone will continue to provide certain services to Fastweb, including brand licensing, for up to five years.
In September 2024, the Antitrust Authority published a notice of investigation and launched an inquiry. Swisscom announced that the European Commission had approved the acquisition of Vodafone Italia under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation. The transaction was subsequently approved by AGCOM and AGCM in November and December 2024, respectively.
In October 2024, CoopVoce signed an agreement with Vodafone to extend mobile network coverage and implement 5G.
On 15 November 2024, Sabrina Casalta, the company's Chief Financial Officer, was appointed interim CEO, replacing Aldo Bisio, who remained a non-executive board member until the completion of the transaction with Swisscom.
On 31 December 2024, the Swiss telecommunications group Swisscom finalized the acquisition of Vodafone Italia for €8 billion. Following the completion of the transaction, an integration phase commenced to merge the company with Swisscom's existing Italian subsidiary, Fastweb.
During the transitional period throughout 2025, the combined entity adopted the Fastweb + Vodafone corporate identity. This unified identity served as the institutional brand for the group's governance, managed by a single Executive Committee under the leadership of CEO Walter Renna. While Fastweb + Vodafone was used for corporate and operational purposes, the individual commercial brands Vodafone, ho., and Fastweb continued to operate independently in the consumer and business markets.
The legal integration process was completed on 1 January 2026, when Vodafone Italia S.p.A. was formally merged by incorporation into Fastweb S.p.A. As a result of the merger, Vodafone Italia ceased to exist as a separate legal entity, with Fastweb assuming all its assets and obligations. Despite the legal dissolution of the company, Fastweb continues to use the Vodafone brand in Italy under a five-year licensing agreement from the Vodafone Group.
From Wikipedia’s article on Vodafone Italy, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5