Tiscali Joins Italy Alternative Operators Broadband Plan

Broadband operator Tiscali SpA (TIS.MI) said Friday it will join a group of larger peers in a project to roll out a next-generation broadband network in Italy.

The company will join the Italian unit of U.K. firm Vodafone Group PLC (VOD) and phone operators Fastweb SpA (FWB.MI) and Wind SpA, who recently unveiled a plan to invest EUR2.5 billion to bring broadband to Italy's 15 largest cities in the next five years.

Tiscali didn't disclose the amount of its planned investment.

The group has asked the Italian government to start the process allowing for the creation of a fiber-optic company with both operators and public bodies as investors.

In particular, they hope Cassa Depositi e Prestiti SpA (CdP), a state-controlled fund in which Italy's banks also have stakes, would join the project.

The operators said the project might be expanded to include up to EUR8.5 billion in investment so as to cover all Italian towns with more than 20,000 inhabitants, or around 50% of the population.

The country's largest telecoms operator, Telecom Italia SpA (TI), has repeatedly said it is open to consider any initiative boosting broadband coverage in Italy, but wants to stick to its EUR7 billion investment plan in network infrastructure and information technology over the next three years. It also said it isn't willing to share control of its key fixed-line network.

-By Giada Zampano, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]