The head of Italy's telecommunications regulator Tuesday urged the country's telecoms operators to work on a common project for the development of a next-generation broadband network, as Italy needs to bridge the gap with the rest of Europe.

In the regulator's annual speech to parliament, AGCOM Chairman Corrado Calabro said the two separate plans recently announced by Italy's largest telecoms operator Telecom Italia SpA (TI) and a group of competitors need to converge under one nationwide plan, guided by the Italian government and with clear rules set by the regulator.

Italy's former monopoly, Telecom Italia has recently dismissed calls for joining a rival broadband project, telling regulators that it will push ahead with its own plans to offer ultra broadband services to 50% of the Italian population by 2018.

Telecom Italia pledged to reach half of the Italian population with 100 megabit fiber optic infrastructure, but wants to stick to its investment plans, which include investing EUR7 billion on its fixed-line network upgrade in the next three years.

Telecom Italia's pledges follow an alternative plan by rival operators Fastweb (FWB.MI), Vodafone Group PLC (VOD), Wind SpA and Tiscali (TIS.MI) to invest EUR2.5 billion to bring broadband to Italy's 15 largest cities in the next five years.

--By Giada Zampano, Dow Jones Newswires, +39 06 69766925; giada.zampano@dowjones.com

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