3:00 PM -- Rather than selling off its Dutch subsidiary bbned , Telecom Italia (TIM) has decided to keep it and use the ADSL network to launch its Alice branded broadband services. This is the first big move the Italian incumbent has made into retail broadband services in the Netherlands since it invested in bbned back in July 2000.

Last year, Telecom Italia wanted to sell bbned, which provides wholesale broadband services in the Netherlands. But how things can change in just one year. With the launch of Alice, Stefano Mazzitelli, Telecom Italia's head of international wholesale and broadband services, told Dow Jones that divesting bbned at this point did not make sense.

So, the Netherlands becomes the fourth European market for Alice broadband services after France, Germany, and, of course, Italy.

The Dutch Alice service package includes 20-Mbit/s Internet access plus unlimited local VOIP calls for €29.90 (US$40) per month. Next year, Telecom Italia plans to add IPTV and mobile services to the offer. And bbned says it will look into providing "fiber to the end customer."

Telecom Italia has advanced into French and German broadband markets through several acquisitions over the last few years. (See Italians Invade Germany, DT Rival Launches IPTV , T ItaIia Buys AOL Germany, Telecom Italia Outlines French Plan, and Italians Prep Big French DSL Rollout.)

— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Light Reading