Telecom Italia launches Alice Ricaricabile, Europe’s first prepaid ADSL offering

Callers only pay traffic charges and no subscription, like a cellphone pay-as-you-go plan

Alice Ricaricabile is Telecom Italia?s brand new low-cost solution that opens up the world of broadband. Customers only pay for their Internet traffic and nothing else. A new satellite broadband service is also being rolled out, extending broadband coverage to 100% of the Italian residential market, and new Internet content is being launched. Starting in June, the high-speed Alice Internet service will have a new home page offering theme-based news, music, sport and gaming channels from leading Italian and international content providers

Continuing its long-term commitment to broadband in Italy, Telecom Italia is further boosting its ADSL offerings with Alice Ricaricabile (Pay-as-you-go Alice), a brand-new innovative solution for the Alice product range.

Offering solutions that cater to the full range of customer needs, Telecom Italia?s broadband growth strategy revolves around combining connectivity with innovative and highly attractive content, while extending broadband to all of Italy using alternative technologies, such as satellite, in order to bridge the digital divide.

Broadband market growth is of enormous strategic value to Telecom Italia. It therefore no surprise that the company is investing ?2.5 billion in this new tech industry in the three-year period 2002-2005 as it focuses on accelerating broadband growth over the traditional copper network. Thus far, 2,100 exchanges in 1,300 towns have been equipped with ADSL technology. ADSL service coverage is currently available to 78% of Italy?s Internet users.

Alice Ricaricabile

Alice Ricaricabile is the first prepaid ADSL product available in Europe. This ground-breaking solution boosts broadband market growth by offering low-cost broadband access. Customers only pay for their Internet traffic, with no charges invoiced to their telephone bill.

Just like a top-up cell phone price plan, Alice Ricaricabile comes with a prepaid credit for surfing the Internet. This particular access method is ideally suited to people who wish to have all of the benefits of broadband but want to keep an eye on costs and prefer not to sign up for a monthly contract. The solution is particularly attractive to people who spend less than ten hours per month surfing the net ? a category that applies to 50% of Italy?s Internet users.

Setting up Alice Ricaricabile is simplicity itself, thanks to the Alice Ricaricabile self installation kit. All users have to do is connect up their modem and PC, call the freephone number 800187187 and then enter the PIN code. The ADSL Alice line will be activated within days.

Once the credit has been used up, customers simply purchase a new 25 hour Alice Ricarica top-up card costing ?50, go to the Alice website and enter the PIN code to recharge their account.

Alice Ricaricabile is on sale from 18 May. Alice Ricaricabile kits cost ?100 and are available from 1,200 Telecom Italia and Punti 187 stores, as well as from partner store networks (including Unieuro, Mediaworld, Computer Discount, Vobis/Strabilia, Datamatic, Mondadori and Mit).

Alice Ricaricabile rounds off Telecom Italia?s range of ADSL offers for Internet users. Alice offers a whole host of solutions at a range of different speeds, prices and use profiles to cater to all customer needs. The Alice family of products is targeted at Italy?s 6.25 million Internet-using households.

?Alice?s Place?: connectivity plus added services and content

Starting in June, Alice steps up from high-speed Internet access to become the simplest way to access a whole new world of broadband content and services. The brand-new ?Alice?s Place? Home Page will offer access to a wide range of innovative services and new theme-based channels (sport, music, gaming, entertainment etc). The service?s Internet-style content is being supplied by leading Italian and international content providers and includes a significant amount of material exclusive to Telecom Italia. Some of the ?Alice?s Place? content will be free, some will be on a for-payment basis. All for-payment content is available for the entire summer at a one-off fee of ?5, which will be charged to the user?s telephone bill.

?Alice?s Place? is Telecom Italia?s latest innovation as it increasingly tailors its broadband offers to meet customer needs and promote broadband take-up.

Alice Sat: high-speed Internet access via satellite

Telecom Italia?s broadband enhancements don?t stop at Alice Ricaricabile and new Internet content: the company is also rolling out Alice Sat, a high-speed Internet access service via satellite. Starting from 15 May, broadband coverage will be extended to 100% of Italian territory.

Customers equipped with a satellite dish, a Telecom Italia-supplied satellite modem and a normal telephone modem will be able to connect at speeds of up to 640 Kbps (download speed) from the satellite and 56 Kbps (upload speed) through their standard dial-up connection.

Alice Sat is available in two options: Alice Sat 640 (640 kbps download speed) is available from mid-May for a monthly subscription fee of ?59.95 (including VAT); Alice Sat 300 (300 Kbps download speed) goes on sale in June at a cost of ?39.95 per month.

Two special offers run until 30 June 2003: up to that date, there is no set-up charge to pay, and modem rental prices are only ?3 per month for a Sat PCI modem or ?6 per month for a Sat USB modem.