Iliad Italia signed an agreement with wholesale provider Open Fiber as part of a plan to begin offering converged fixed and mobile services, a move which further ratchets competition to Telecom Italia, Vodafone Italy and Wind Tre.

The challenger operator, which reports it recruited more than 5.5 million mobile customers within two years of its launch in May 2018, noted the agreement was a first step towards achieving its objective of also offering fixed services. Its three mobile market rivals already offer converged deals.

Iliad Italia entered the mobile market with deals which severely undercut rivals, similar tactics which affiliate Free Mobile used to disrupt the French market in 2012.

Following its debut in Italy, rivals began slashing prices, with the company since blamed for falling ARPU in the country.

In a statement on the Open Fiber deal, Iliad Italia CEO Benedetto Levi (pictured) said it planned to bring the values of “transparency, simplicity and clarity” it brought to mobile into the fixed segment.

“The growing demand for connectivity in recent months has prompted us to speed up the time for entry into the fixed segment and the partnership with Open Fiber is the first step in this direction.”

It is the latest significant contract won by Open Fiber in recent weeks, with the company also inking agreements with Orange Business Services and satellite TV company Sky Italia.