Mondadori and Vodafone Italia are launching the first digital newsstand for tablet devices: an authentic aggregator for digital magazines that will provide access to Italy’s best magazines and, with the Bol.it, to more than 110,000 ebooks.

Two markets with great potential side by side: the media industry, which in Italy, between digital and “physical” is worth around €21 billion (Source: PWC “Entertainment & Media Outlook in Italy) and a sector that is undergoing a profound transformation. At the same time, the mobile telecoms sector, currently worth about €21 billion (Source: Deutsche Bank), has been involved in the rapid spread of the most advanced communication services and devices, creating the conditions for the development of new ways of exploiting a vast array of content.

Mondadori and Vodafone, both market leaders, have combined their efforts to offer their customers and readers the most effective way of accessing paid content. The partnership opens the way to an innovative model in which digital editorial content will be made available on all kinds of device (tablets and smartphones), regardless of the operating system or technology.

With this agreement Mondadori and Vodafone will, from the beginning of June, open a digital newsstand with all of Italy’s leading magazines: from the start it will be possible to download for free, on devices running the Android operating system, six digital editions of Panorama, Panorama Economy and Grazia; other titles will be added from summer the weeklies Chi, Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni, Donna Moderna and Tu Style and the monthlies Cucina Moderna, Casaviva, Panoramauto and Pc Professionale.
And through an application for Bol.it – the Italian online bookstore with over 6 million products including books, CDs, DVDs, games and ebooks, Vodafone clients will also be able to access a catalogue of over 110,000 digital books, available at a 30% discount.

Vodafone Italia, which already since last summer has developed solutions to accompany the world of publishing towards a new business model for paid digital content, aims to be the best possible partner for digital media with its portfolio of products that is a model of excellent service with pre and post sales assistance and advice at all points of contact with the client and a network performance that makes them available always and everywhere.

Mondadori’s Digital area, which was created in September 2010 and is focused on the development of the publishing market through technology, is concentrating on the dual effort of creating new areas of business and the digital distribution of magazines, books and the Group’s other editorial products. In addition to its e-commerce and digital multimedia activities, the Digital area has recently added the development of applications for mobile devices.

“In a world in which cultural consumption is increasing and permeating the physical and digital lives of people, ensuring that access to content is easy and ubiquitous is part of the role of a publisher,” underlined Maurizio Costa, deputy chairman and chief executive of the Mondadori Group. “Increasing the value of what Mondadori can give to its customers/readers is at the heart of our development policies, and we are creating partnerships with telecom operators, device manufacturers and the leading internet brands precisely to ensure that customers can have access and buying opportunities everywhere. In this sense, the agreement with Vodafone is an important stage in the construction of our growth strategy,” Costa concluded.

“This agreement with Mondadori is a key element in our strategy,” stated Paolo Bertoluzzo, chief executive of Vodafone Italia, “because it is based on an open and horizontal model that allows us to offer, regardless of the type of device or operating system, not only digital newspapers, but also the widest range of magazines and ebooks. 2011 is the year of the tablet and the spread of these products will encourage the evolution of the business models of media companies. We want to facilitate this process by providing the best solutions in terms of connectivity, service, assistance and payment systems,” concluded Bertoluzzo.

The magazines available on the digital newsstand can be purchased easily and securely with telephone credit and a click, using one’s telephone number and password.
To make access to the digital newsstand and Bol.it simpler for customers, an application will be pre-installed on tables and available from “Vodafone Apps” where all applications of Vodafone and its partners (magazines, Bol.it, and newspapers) can be downloaded directly onto any device.