Fastweb Signs MVNO Agreement With 3 Italia

MILAN -(Dow Jones)- Italian broadband operator Fastweb said Thursday it has signed a mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, agreement with Hutchinson Whampoa.'s Italian unit 3 Italia.

Fastweb, Italy's second-largest telecommunications operator by market value, said the deal will enable the company to offer mobile telephone services including voice, data and video to its residential and business clients.

The launch of the new mobile operator will be during the second half of 2008, Fastweb said.

Since it expanded its network to cover most of Italy, Fastweb has aggressively competed with former telecommunication monopoly Telecom Italia.

"Thanks to the scalability of the next generation network deployed by Fastweb, we are able to integrate the mobile service without heavy investment," said Fastweb's Chief Executive Stefano Parisi.

Fastweb's shares were boosted by news of the deal Thursday and by 0930 GMT were trading up 1.2% at EUR27.49, outperforming a flat overall market.

"This is good news for Fastweb, especially after it didn't reach such an agreement with its commercial partner Vodafone," a Milan-based trader said.

Fastweb -- acquired by Swiss telecommunications company Swisscom in May -- confirmed in October that it is pursuing a further network expansion plan to increase its coverage to 50% of the Italian market by year-end. It had 1.25 million clients at the end of September.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Posted to the site on 6th December 2007