In May 2007, Swisscom acquired a controlling stake of 82.4% in Fastweb for €3 billion. The company later purchased the remaining shares from minority shareholders following a voluntary tender offer in September 2010, after which Fastweb was delisted from the Borsa Italiana.
On December 31, 2024, Swisscom acquiredVodafone Italy with the aim of merging it with Fastweb to form Fastweb + Vodafone.[4] Vodafone Italy will be legally merged into Fastweb on January 1, 2026; however, Fastweb will continue to operate the Vodafone brand separately, which will be gradually phased out by 2029.[5][6]
In March 2000, e.Biscom went public on the Italian New Market Stock Exchange to expand and finance their fiber-optic network in major Italian cities.[8] e.Biscom soon became the first operator in the world to use full IP technology and bring fiber-optic networks to cities, and launched home telecommunication services.[9] In 2002, fiber-optic cabling was completed in Milan, and Fastweb consolidated its presence in Rome, Genoa, Turin, Naples, and Bologna.
Merger with e.Biscom
e.Biscom announced a possible merger with Fastweb in early 2004, and the merger was finalized by the end of April.[10] The company took on Fastweb's name, and focused on its core business, creating broadband telecommunications on the Italian landline network.[11]
By 2006, Fastweb was Italy's leading alternative broadband telecommunications provider, boasting over one million customers and an annual revenue of €1.26 billion. In early 2007, Fastweb was bought by Swisscom, a major Swiss telecommunications provider, to strengthen new technologies and multimedia for Swisscom, while increasing cash flow and revenue.[9]
Expansion under Swisscom
In 2008, Fastweb launched connections of up to 100Mbit/s for small and medium enterprises in areas served by its fiber-optic network, making this connectivity speed available in Italy for the first time. Over the next year, Fastweb signed an agreement with Telecom Italia to promote the development of fiber-optic next-generation networks (NGN) by sharing infrastructure.[12]
Fastweb worked to continue expanding faster service, and in 2010, their Fibra 100 service became available to residential consumers, and two million homes and businesses had the ability to use the Internet at 100Mbit/s for the first time in Italy.[12]
In 2015, Fastweb signed an agreement with Telecom Italia to become a full mobile virtual network operator (Full MVNO) to ensure better quality and coverage, including access to 4G and 4G+.[12]
After continuing to grow, in 2018 Fastweb acquired Tiscali's fixed-wireless business, including full ownership of Tiscali's 5G, 3.5GHz spectrum, in a deal worth approximately $176 million.[13]
Acquisition of Vodafone Italia
On March 15, 2024, Swisscom signed a binding purchase proposal to acquire 100% of Vodafone Italia for €8 billion, with the goal of merging it with Fastweb. The transaction is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2025. As part of the agreement, Vodafone will continue to provide certain services to Fastweb, as well as grant the use of its brand for a maximum period of five years.[14][15][16][17][18]
On April 3, 2024, Fastweb also entered the electricity market.[19]
In September 2024, the Antitrust Authority published a notice of investigation[20] and launched an inquiry.[21] Swisscom announced that the European Commission had approved the acquisition of Vodafone Italia under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation.[22] The transaction was also approved by AGCOM and AGCM in November and December 2024, respectively.[23][24]
On December 31, 2024, Swisscom, through Fastweb, completed the acquisition of Vodafone Italia, giving rise to Fastweb + Vodafone.[25][26][27]
The brand was founded by Vodafone Italy on January 23, 2017 as a low-costoperator,[30] but the commercial launch of the service took place on June 22, 2018, a few weeks after Iliad entered the Italian market.[31]
Following the acquisition of Vodafone Italy by Fastweb, which became effective on January 1, 2026, ownership of ho. was fully transferred to Fastweb. As a result, the company Vodafone Italia S.p.A. ceased to exist, and all legal ownership of the brand passed to Fastweb.
Although it obtained authorization from the Ministry of Economic Development to operate as a Full MVNO using the 379-1 prefix, the operator was launched as an ESP MVNO, adopting the 377-08 and 377-09 prefixes. The 379-1 and 379-2 prefixes were introduced at a later stage.[32]
Brand identity
Evolution of the company brand and logo:
2001–2002
2002–2004
2004–2010
2010–2020
2020–present
Network and services
Since its founding Fastweb has invested over €5 billion in a next-generationfiber-optic network spanning more than 32,000km (20,000mi). By implementing the Internet Protocol on its alternative fiber-optic network, Fastweb provides a Triple-Play Offer of landline, internet and television services, available simultaneously on a single connection, for residential and business clients.
In September 2010 and for the first time in Italy, Fastweb launched a broadband connection up to 100 Mbit/s for residential customers and small enterprises in the cities of Milan, Rome, Genoa, Turin, Bologna, Naples and Bari.
In July 2019 became the fifth mobile network operator in Italy by obtaining the license to operate on 5G network.[33]
Today, business customers account for 60% of the total revenue. On the government market, Fastweb became the main supplier of fixed network telephone and data services to central public agencies.
Customers
Mobile telephony
This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (December 2025)
Fixed telephony
This section is empty. You can help by adding to it. (December 2025)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
