9:20 AM -- Italian triple play pioneer Fastweb SpA (Milan: FWB) has finally found a suitable partner to help fulfill its four-play (mobile, IPTV, broadband, voice) ambitions. (See Fastweb Plays Wireless Waiting Game .)

The competitive carrier, now part of the Swisscom AG (NYSE: SCM) empire, has struck a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) agreement with 3 Italia to add mobile to its services mix. (See FastWeb Strikes MVNO Deal and Swisscom Buys FastWeb.)

That puts it on equal consumer service portfolio terms with rivals Telecom Italia (TIM) and Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA .

FastWeb has previously engaged with Vodafone Italy as a mobile partner, and the two companies had held talks about a potential MVNO arrangement. (See Vodafone, FastWeb Team Up.)

Now, though, Vodafone is likely to emerge as another four-play (or quad-play) service provider, having recently completed the acquisition of a broadband business in Italy. (See Vodafone Buys Tele2 Units and Vodafone Completes Tele2 Buy.)

— Ray Le Maistre, Four-Play Editor, Light Reading