Vodafone sues Telecom Italia for €525m

Vodafone is suing its main competitor in Italy, Telecom Italia, for several hundred million euros, claiming the operator abused its market dominance in the country.

According to Vodafone, Telecom Italia has used its dominance in Italy's fixed line market to illegally gain an advantage in the mobile space.

Vodafone Italia has now filed a complaint in a Milan court, suing Telecom Italia for €525.2m in damages.

The operator says it has evidence in its possession that proves Telecom Italia has been acting illegally by supplying details of its fixed line subscribers to mobile arm Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) to enable the mobile operator to target those customers with better deals.

Vodafone also alleges that its competitor has been offering Vodafone customers discounts in an effort to poach them.

TIM now has around 30 million subscribers in Italy, ahead of Vodafone's roughly 24 million customers.

"The legal action involving Vodafone and Telecom-TIM is not simply a battle between two businesses. Now that the markets for integrated fixed-mobile services and broadband are also being opened up to competition, it is essential to rapidly re-establish a level playing field," Vodafone said in a statement.

TIM could not immediately be contacted for a response.