Telecom Italia Launches Super SMS, Drops Top-Up Charges"

MILAN -(Dow Jones)- Telecom Italia said Monday it will launch the world's first instant messaging service to run on both mobile phones and personal computers in November.

In a statement, Italy's largest telecommunication company by market capitalization said the "Super SMS" service will allow users to write messages and reply in real time. Super SMS will be available to all PC customers with an ALICE MAIL address and to all TIM mobile phone users, it said.

The new service will be free of charge for the rest of the year, the company added.

Italy's former telecommunication monopoly - which has been in the spotlight since unveiling a controversial reorganization plan to spin off its fixed-line and mobile operations - also launched Monday a special offer for its mobile clients which eliminates top-up charges.

After a one-off payment of EUR5, the firm's TIM mobile customers can sign up for the new "TIM Tribu" option as part of a special free offer running until the end of the year. Under the offer, customers can use their entire top-up amount to make calls and send text messages, Telecom Italia said.

By the end of June 2006, TIM had supplied some 30.4 million mobile contracts, Telecom Italia said.

The company added that its dealer network last week ordered over 3 million mobile handsets - more than one million of which were high-speed UMTS units - at a convention in Paris.

The order compares with 2.5 million handsets ordered in May and 2.2 million in October last year, Telecom Italia said.

"This result strengthens Telecom Italia's leadership on the domestic mobile market for phones sold directly by the operator, reaching a market share of about 60%," Telecom Italia said. The company said the rollout of high-speed mobile data services is being accelerated to reach 48% of the population by year-end, after being launched in Italy's largest cities in May.

-By Giada Zampano, Dow Jones Newswires; +39 02 5821 9907; giada.zampano@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires "

Posted to the site on 23rd October 2006