Italian low-cost new entrant Iliad signed up an average of almost 10,000 users per day in its first month of operation, with rival Wind Tre said to be the hardest hit.

Wall Street Italia reported figures from business analysts in the country estimating around 40 per cent of the 300,000 connections Iliad made since launching on 29 May came from Wind Tre. Around a quarter of the total came from Vodafone Italia, with 20 per cent former Telecom Italia customers.

Iliad adopted a similar strategy as it did when it shook-up the French market with its Free brand: it’s opening offer in Italy significantly undercut rivals with much higher data allocations at a lower price.

The deal is only available to the first million customers, but if tactics used in France are replicated in Italy its full price tariffs are also likely to be lower than equivalents from rivals.

In response to the newcomer’s entry, Italy’s other operators have slashed prices and increased allocations through a number of special offers and deals. Vodafone Italia also last week unveiled discount brand Ho in an apparent attempt to challenge at the low-cost end of the market.