Fastweb looking at stake in TIM’s FiberCop venture

Swisscom-owned Italian telco Fastweb is considering taking a stake in the new last-mile network venture which is being set up by Telecom Italia (TIM). Fastweb currently has a 20% interest in Flash Fiber, a joint venture it established with TIM in 2016 which aims to have fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) networks deployed past around three million premises across Italy by the end of this year. A report from Reuters suggests that the Swisscom subsidiary is now planning to transfer its Flash Fiber stake to TIM’s new last-mile vehicle, dubbed FiberCop. Investment firm KKR is already in exclusive negotiations with TIM to take a 40% stake in the new venture. A binding offer by KKR is expected later this month, Reuters suggests.