Fastweb (telecommunications company)

Founding

Fastweb was founded in 1999 in Milan as a joint venture between e.Biscom (founded by Silvio Scaglia, Francesco Micheli, and Ruggero Gramatica) and AEM, with the intention of developing a fiber-optic network and IP services in Italy.

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]

Expansion and technological achievements

By 2006, Fastweb's broadband network had expanded to cover about 45 percent of Italy's population, and later that year, Fastweb won both a Consip and a Centro Nazionale per l'Informatica nella Pubblica Amministrazione (CNIPA) tender for the Public Connectivity System (SPC) becoming a supplier to relevant public authorities.[12]

Swisscom acquisition

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 100 Mbit/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 100 Mbit/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, 3.5 GHz 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 for €8 billion, using Fastweb + Vodafone brand as the corporate identity during the transition period.[25][26][27]

Mobile telephony

As of June 2025, Fastweb+Vodafone has 33.0 million active mobile SIMs in total.[34] It is the leading mobile network operator in Italy.

Fixed telephony