800px-Logo_Poste_Mobile-

EAFM, the European Association of Full-MVNOs is pleased to announce PosteMobile as its newest and first Italian member. PosteMobile, the telecommunications branch of the postal service company Poste Italiane, entered the market in 2007 and quickly became the country’s largest MVNO, serving more than 3.300.000 clients.

PosteMobile has started commercial operations in Italy in November 2007. The MVNO has strengthened its position by offering a wide range of integrated innovative services and being a major investor and job creator in the market. Present on both the consumer and the business segments, PosteMobile is a proximity enterprise operating through the country’s 14.000 post offices. PosteMobile provides innovative offers associating telecommunications with financial services, with the possibility to link the SIM card with a Banco Posta’s means of payment or credit card. PosteMobile is therefore Italy’s biggest MVNO, with more than 50% market share, while being the leading Italian operator in remote financial services, with one million customers using the service and more than 250 million euro of annual payments made through the SIM card. PosteMobile was honoured at the 2013 “MVNO Industry Awards”, organised by Informa Telecoms and Media, as the “most innovative MVNO” and “most successful MVNO”.

Jacques Bonifay, chairman of EAFM, states: “we are very pleased to welcome such a prominent new member within our association, strengthening our voice to promote the innovative business models brought forward by MVNOs. PosteMobile’s position on the Italian market is an excellent example of how we can foster innovation in the telecoms sector, to the ultimate benefit of users.”

EAFM has the goal to create a more openly accessible market for MVNOs, in order to contribute to the growth of the fast-moving mobile sector and to ensure that consumers and businesses have a range of diversified and innovative services to choose from.

EAFM represents those companies that have negotiated Full-MVNO agreements with host MNOs. Our members in that sense have achieved commercial independence from their hosts, deploying their own network elements. EAFM was created in June 2012 and is currently composed of Liberty Global (incl. Virgin Media), EI Telecom (NRJ Mobile), Telenet, Transatel, Voiceworks, Cyta Hellas and PosteMobile. Therefore, the activities of EAFM members span across more than 14 countries and serve millions of consumers who conscientiously choose more innovative services at attractive retail prices.