Telecom Italia is on the look-out for acquisition opportunities in Germany, an AFP report, quoting local media, said.
"Our goal is to remain in Germany and to expand," Riccardo Ruggiero, CEO of Telecom Italia, told the Handelsblatt business daily. "We're examining all market opportunities closely. Germany has big potential in high-speed Internet services."
The AFP report said Telecom Italia acquired the German Internet access provider Hansenet in 2003 and also launched its own brand, Alice.
Germany's industrial heartland and its most populous state, North Rhine, Westphalia, was one of the regions that Telecom Italia was targeting, Ruggiero said.
Handelsblatt quoted an industry analyst as saying that AOL Germany, Versatel Germany and the German activities of Tiscali could be possible takeover targets for Telecom Italia.