Virgin Fibra to bundle fast Internet with video streaming in Italy - Reuters

MILAN, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Virgin Fibra, a start-up steadfast backed by the radical founded by British billionaire Richard Branson, volition adhd video streaming services to its newly-launched accelerated fibre connection successful Italy, its main said connected Tuesday.

Led by telecoms and media manufacture seasoned Tom Mockridge, Virgin Fibra, which started selling its services successful August, present offers ultrafast connectivity services astatine a reduced monthly terms of 26 euros ($25.66).

"We volition spouse with the streaming hubs but we are not a concern that is creating our ain content. There are immoderate fantastic choices of streaming apps," Mockridge said during a property briefing successful Milan to contiguous the caller venture.

The task has been endowed with an archetypal 25 cardinal euros of capital.

"The investors are 1 3rd Virgin, 1 3rd myself and my partners and 1 3rd immoderate Italian investors", the enforcement said.

No targets were provided during the presentation.

The introduction of the Virgin marque adds contention successful an expanding crowded accelerated fibre residential market, wherever erstwhile monopoly Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) is struggling to combat disconnected caller entrants.

Similarly to Sky and Iliad, Virgin Fibra partnered with state-backed fibre-optic relation Open Fiber's to motorboat fast-connectivity services successful Italy.

Asked astir a task to make a single nationalist web company combining Telecom Italia's grid with those of smaller rival Open Fiber, Branson said that the cardinal occupation of a authorities is to promote competition.

"If they were to bash thing similar that they person to beryllium 100% definite that it does not instrumentality distant from competition", helium told reporters connected the sidelines of the quality conference. ($1 = 1.0133 euros)

Reporting by Elisa Anzolin and Elvira Pollina Editing by Keith Weir

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