The Government has been very clear regarding Coronavirus related issues: one must not leave the house, except for reasons of primary necessity (find all the details on the official website of the Ministry of Health). Put simply, a little "effort" is required of all of us to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. From this context came an incredibly positive response from companies, which are providing countless services to citizens for free.
There is really everything from video streaming services to smart working tools, through magazines, e-books and much more. The main possibilities are listed directly on the official website of Digital Solidarity, an initiative of the MID (Minister for technological innovation and digitization) and AgID (Agency for digital Italy), but there are also other companies that have decided to give your contribution outside the pages of the aforementioned portal.
Let's go, therefore, to take stock of the situation on digital services available for free and how to access it.
Information and entertainment
• Subscription La Repubblica. 25,000 free subscriptions available. We await further indications for activation;
• La Stampa subscription. 25,000 free subscriptions available. We await further indications for activation;
• Mondadori Group season tickets. 50,000 free subscriptions to Mondadori Group magazines are available (CasaFacile, Chi, Donna Moderna, Focus, Focus Junior, Focus Storia, GialloZafferano, Grazia, Icon, Icon Design and Tv Sorrisi e Canzoni). We await further indications for activation;
• Subscriptions The Automobile. Monthly published by ACI Automobile Club of Italy. Find the details for activation on the Digital Solidarity website;
• Mondadori Group: an e-book of your choice. 10,000 free e-books are available. We await further indications for activation;
• The Assayer: an e-book as a gift every two days. All the details on the official website;
• Free quarterly subscription to weekly magazine Film Tv. More details on the Digital Solidarity website;
• A free e-book from Youcanprint. More details on the Digital Solidarity website;
• Info-Chat Coronavirus. Free chatbot that follows the guidelines of the Ministry of Health to help doctors and patients understand how to behave in case of suspected symptoms of New Coronavirus. More details on the Digital Solidarity portal;
• Magazines New Ecology and Qualenergia for free. More details on the Digital Solidarity website;
• A free ebook from Bertoni Editore. "Anyone can choose a title from the website www.bertonieditore.com, and send an email to j.bertoni@outlook.it with written: name, surname and chosen title. The book will be sent in digital format (pdf or ebook)";
• Infinity free for two months. You have to register via the official website (after a first phase in which it was not clear, now this possibility is officially part of the Digital Solidarity initiative);
• Subscription to Smart Tales free for three months. These are interactive and animated books created by educators who teach STEM subjects. Just download the app from the Android Play Store or from the Apple App Store (find the links on the official website) and enter the code ST2020IT;
• The latest issue of Hystrio magazine is free. The PDF can be downloaded from the official website;
• Lions Spoken Book Service. 10,000 audiobooks available for download and listening for people with physical-sensory disabilities. More details on the Digital Solidarity website;
• Digital copies of Condé Nast magazines free for three months. These are Vanity Fair, Vogue, Wired, GQ, La Cucina Italiana, AD and Traveler. More details on the Digital Solidarity website;
• RaiPlay without login. Credentials are no longer needed to access content on demand (it is not part of the Digital Solidarity initiative, but was announced by Rai);
• DPlay Plus free for a month. Streaming on demand service with various contents, including some Discovery channels. You can access the initiative through the official website (it is not part of the Digital Solidarity initiative, note that a 4 euro check may be carried out on your card to check for any problems);
• The Film Club: 100 free movies. You can register via the official website (not part of the Digital Solidarity initiative);
• Dire Healthcare Newsletter free. Access restricted to local, hard copy and web professionals.
Amazon Prime Video issue: the possibility of obtaining this service for free has been removed by the Digital Solidarity initiative, which initially was intended solely for the so-called "red areas". Jeff Bezos' company and the government are trying to understand what can be done now that the area has been extended to the whole national territory. The situation is rapidly changing and it takes time to agree. We will update the article as soon as we have more information.
TIMVISION issue: the service had been "promised" together with the unlimited Giga already activated. We will keep you informed in case of news.
If you are interested in video streaming services, we have created an in-depth analysis that explains step by step how to take advantage of these possibilities for free.
Connectivity and services
TIM: Unlimited giga mobile for a month for all customers with an active data bundle. Unlimited calls from landline until the end of April for all customers who do not have the calls included. The Giga can be activated through the official website. For landline calls, call 187 and activate the promotion;
• Vodafone: Unlimited Giga free for one month to students between 14 and 26 years old. It is activated by calling 42100 and deactivated automatically after one month;
• Free racing Helbiz vehicles. 25,000 free 20-minute rides available, valid until April 4 in the cities of Milan, Turin, Rome and Verona. More details on the Digital Solidarity website;
• Wind Tre: 100 Giga additional for all customers rechargeable voice furniture that will be contacted via SMS from the second half of March;
• Free smart working and e-learning services for companies and professionals: Webex (Connexia), Joinconference, Cisco Webex, Microsoft, Sygma Connect, G Suite, TIM WeSchool, Treccani Scuola, Teach Corner, Hunters Group (job posting), WeTurtle, IP PBX, Cloud telephone switchboard and platform Webmeeting, Realtime Marketing, DKTS (Italian course for foreigners), bonus 10 euro repetitions Skuola.net, 1to1 Progress, Avaya Spaces, Support for Smart Teams, Smart Working Training, Kiber 3 Field, Valarea, ShellRent, Digital360, Docety, Cassiopea Rome (for all the details on activation, consult the website of the Digital Solidarity initiative), Coursera (outside of Digital Solidarity, all the details on the official website);
• Vodafone: one month of unlimited use of the data connection on all voice SIM cards Italian companies, VAT and institutions. Automatic activation via SMS;
• Fastweb: from the second half of March it will be given away a total of one million Giga free, which will be shared by all users nationwide. Activation will be automatic: the data limit will stop and you can use the shared gigabytes;
• iliad: 10 Giga and unlimited calls to landlines in over 60 international destinations to mobile in Canada and the USA. Valid for users who have Voce offer signed until 11/3/2020. Activation is automatic: the users involved will be contacted via SMS;
• Amazon offers free webinars for teachers (primary and secondary school). Duration of one hour and thirty on STEM subjects. Find more information on participation on the Digital Solidarity website;
• Free 1GB Pec Mail free for one year. Activated from 9 to 30 March 2020 via the official website;
• PagoPA, online payment software, free for 3 months for the Public Administration. More details on the Digital Solidarity portal;
• PEC Legalmail 8GB free throughout 2020. It can be activated until April 3, 2020 through the official website;
• ShippyPro free for three months. It is a complete shipping platform for e-commerce companies. You can create a free account through the official website;
• Eat Italy Food free for three months. B2C and B2B service for food and wine producers;
• Free deliverart for restaurateurs in difficulty during this period. It is a software for the optimized management of home deliveries. More details on the official website;
• CLICKDOCK Free teleconsultation throughout the period of the emergency. Software solution intended for doctors and other healthcare professionals. More details on the Digital Solidarity website;
• Amazon Web Services: offers cloud computing services and support. An official form has been made available.
On the official portal of the initiative, we read: "Because of great response to the digital solidarity initiative and to the hundreds of offers that are arriving in these hours, the investigation and publication may take a few days. We apologize for the wait".
The information in this article may be subject to change. Article continuously updated.