Starting next January, Vodafone will allow its customers to handle both mobile calls and fixed lines calls using the same handset, even for customers not owning a fixed line.
Thanks to number portability’s regulation, even customers cancelling their fixed line subscription will be able to continue using their mobile handset to answer calls directed to their ported fixed line number.
The new ‘Numero Fisso’ (fixed number) service by Vodafone will be marketed as an optional service for its home-zoning tariff Vodafone Casa (home). A single fixed line number can be associated to up to two SIMs.
Calls to the fixed line number can be received free while the mobile handset is in its home zone. Out of home, calls to the fixed number can be rerouted to the mobile handset (at € 0,10 per minute) or left unanswered with automatic notification by SMS.
A Court Order has just blocked the new converged fixed-mobile offer promoted by Vodafone. The Court ruled that number portability from a fixed to a mobile network is not yet compulsory, therefore Telecom Italia could not be forced to accept number portability requests as demanded by Vodafone. As a result, the Court ordered Vodafone to stop advertising its new Casa Numero Fisso service.
The Ministry of Communications authorized Vodafone to offer its new convergent service only on a experimental basis for two months up to a maximum of 15.000 users.