Telecom Italia set to strike content deal with Mediaset

Marco Patuano

Following last week’s deal with Sky Italia to market the latter’s pay TV services over its network as part of a quad-play offering, Telecom Italia is set to strike a distribution deal with Sky’s rival Mediaset, according to Italian press. 

Telecom Italia CEO Marco Patuano told journalists at a festival in Perugia that the telco is in advanced talks with Mediaset over a TV deal and that Telecom Italia’s network was an open platform for content providers.

Patuano also said that Telecom Italia is open to a deal with Vivendi, which is set to become the operator’s largest single shareholder, with an 8.3% stake, as a result of its sale of Brazilian operator GVT to Telecom Italia shareholder Telefónica.

Vivendi expects to finalise its agreement to join Telecom Italia’s shareholders early this summer.