Today the Lazio Regional Administrative Court rejected iliad’s appeal against some parts of the AGCOM Resolution 86/21/CIRthe so-called “Sim Swap”. The company recognizes the decision but affirms that it will continue to put consumer protection and freedom of choice first, as well as healthier competition and transparency.
The Lazio Regional Administrative Court rejects iliad’s appeal in the Sim Swap case
For over a year, iliad has been reporting to the competent offices that this resolution has a negative impact on users and the market. The limits imposed to avoid the “Sim Swap” fraud” make it more difficult for users to switch carriers. According to iliad, users can be protected without resorting to measures that impact portability.
In the last seven weeks, several users have complained of the difficulty in changing operators: iliad explains that both the press and theNational Consumer Union they found problems. The rules for changing the SIM (which we explain here) require that you have the old SIM with you, as well as identity documents and tax code, among other things.
Benedetto Levi’s point
Benedict Levi, CEO of iliad Italia, explains: “We have always made transparency and freedom of choice a point of pride for our company. Today we find ourselves in an incomprehensible situation: without jeopardizing the overall structure and purposes of the Resolution, it would be enough to make small corrections to allow all users to change operator when and how they want, without having to go through complex procedures.”
“The discomfort is evident – adds Levi – just look at the number of portability that get blocked every day. So far no one, neither the Authorities nor the Institutions, has asked us to have access to the data. It would be enough to look at them and realize that hundreds of thousands of users are blocked, potentially 2 and a half million in a year. We are talking about millions of people who would find themselves forced, in spite of themselves, to suffer hardship, seeing their freedom of choice effectively limited. This without then wanting to take into account the impact on competitive dynamics and – last but not least – the increase in work for the many small and medium-sized entrepreneurs active in the telephone retail sector who find themselves every day having to explain to users that it is not their responsibility if the portability failslosing time and resources, without any refreshment”.
“I strongly ask the Authorities and Institutions – concludes Levi – to convene a working table as soon as possible, verify if our statements are true, to confirm or deny if there have already been hundreds of thousands of failed portability, and to act consequentially, identifying and implementing as soon as possible those simple corrective measures that can definitively resolve the situation”.