Tiscali SpA
Encyclopedia
Tiscali s.p.a. is an Italian
telecommunications company, based in Cagliari
, Sardinia
, that provides internet
and telecommunications services to its domestic market. It previously had operations in other Europe
an nations through its acquisition of many smaller European Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the late 1990s, but in subsequent years these have been divested.
when the Italian
telecommunications market was deregulated
. Its name is formed from a 2000-year-old nuragic village situated in Sardinia
. The company's original priority was internet access.
During the dot-com boom Italian stock exchange asked Renato Soru to make an IPO and join the stock exchange. On October 1999 Tiscali entered the Italian Stock Exchange, 1 stock was sold for 46 Euro. The company acquired, in quick succession, World Online
(The Netherlands), Liberty Surf (France) and LineOne
(UK), instantly giving it market presence in those countries. This made it the third largest Internet Service Provider in Europe, with presence in most European countries.
Its founder, Renato Soru
, ran for elections as governor
of Sardinia
in 2004 and subsequently left Tiscali after appointing a new CEO, Ruud Huisman.
In March 2009, Tiscali asked banks to postpone the payment of interest of debts following a failure to sell Tiscali UK to BSkyB. In June 2009 the UK branch was sold to The Carphone Warehouse
and merged into its TalkTalk
operations. In September 2009, to avoid bankruptcy, the board decided to reverse the 10:1 stock split and increase capital by 180 million Euro.
As of 2009, Tiscali operates only in its home market.
Each of Tiscali's regional companies offer many services, which may include broadband
internet access and telephone services. Tiscali SpA briefly operated an IPTV
service in Italy
(available in the cities of Bologna
, Cagliari
, Florence
, Genoa
, Milan
, Naples
, Palermo
, Rome
, Turin
and Trieste
) from 11 December 2007. Its UK television service, Tiscali TV was acquired by TalkTalk
in 2009 as previously mentioned.
Tiscali's former Carrier Company, Tiscali International Network
, is a pure play carrier business delivering wholesale services including Global IP Connectivity, MPLS lines
, Voice over IP
and Network Monitoring. As of May 2009 Tinet
's IP/MPLS backbone counts 90 POPs and extends over 17 European countries and across the United States and Hong Kong. Its Autonomous Systems (AS3257) is a core ASN in the global Internet routing table, as well as the largest IPv6 backbone outside Asia. The network was sold to the Italian private equity firm BS Private Equity SpA on 27 May 2009, and renamed Tinet.
Tiscali ran similar web portal
s for each of its countries, which include features such as webmail, reviews, news, videos, dating, chat, radio
, TV guide, streaming TV channels and others.
Tiscali 10.0 was Tiscali's integrated self-branded web browser
, which was distributed with its dial-up Internet packages. It was produced by UltraBrowser
Inc, and used Microsoft
's Internet Explorer
Trident
rendering engine to display web pages. Since Tiscali's corporate re-branding exercise in 2004, the software has not been included in broadband
installation packs as it features Tiscali's original logo and design layout, and generally was designed for those with dial-up packages. Its version number was matched to that of UltraBrowser's most recent version of their own browser.
Scarlet België
.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
telecommunications company, based in Cagliari
Cagliari
Cagliari is the capital of the island of Sardinia, a region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means castle. It has about 156,000 inhabitants, or about 480,000 including the outlying townships : Elmas, Assemini, Capoterra, Selargius, Sestu, Monserrato, Quartucciu, Quartu...
, Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, that provides internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
and telecommunications services to its domestic market. It previously had operations in other Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an nations through its acquisition of many smaller European Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the late 1990s, but in subsequent years these have been divested.
Soru 1998-2004
Tiscali was formed in 1998 by Renato SoruRenato Soru
Renato Soru is an Italian entrepreneur, the founder of the internet service company Tiscali, based in Cagliari. He was born in Sanluri, Sardinia....
when the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
telecommunications market was deregulated
Deregulation
Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or simplification of government rules and regulations that constrain the operation of market forces.Deregulation is the removal or...
. Its name is formed from a 2000-year-old nuragic village situated in Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
. The company's original priority was internet access.
During the dot-com boom Italian stock exchange asked Renato Soru to make an IPO and join the stock exchange. On October 1999 Tiscali entered the Italian Stock Exchange, 1 stock was sold for 46 Euro. The company acquired, in quick succession, World Online
World Online
World Online was a European Internet Service Provider which came to prominence in the late 1990s dotcom boom.Founded by Dutch entrepreneur Nina Brink, World Online's name indicated its aspiration to rival the hugely successful American ISP, AOL . The company aimed to provide free internet access...
(The Netherlands), Liberty Surf (France) and LineOne
LineOne
LineOne was an Internet Service Provider in the United Kingdom in the 1990s. LineOne was a joint venture of News International, United News & Media and British Telecom...
(UK), instantly giving it market presence in those countries. This made it the third largest Internet Service Provider in Europe, with presence in most European countries.
Its founder, Renato Soru
Renato Soru
Renato Soru is an Italian entrepreneur, the founder of the internet service company Tiscali, based in Cagliari. He was born in Sanluri, Sardinia....
, ran for elections as governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
in 2004 and subsequently left Tiscali after appointing a new CEO, Ruud Huisman.
Subsequent CEOs
Ruud Huisman was chosen by Soru as CEO of Tiscali. Huisman sold some assets, but after a year he left the company following disagreements with the board. Tommaso Pompei followed as head, deciding in November 2007 on a new industrial plan 2008-2012, but on February 2008 he resigned as CEO. Mario Rosso was chosen as CEO of Tiscali to restructure the company's debt and he was ceo for 1 year.Soru's return 2009
In February 2009, Soru lost elections for a second term and he decided to come back to Tiscali as CEO.In March 2009, Tiscali asked banks to postpone the payment of interest of debts following a failure to sell Tiscali UK to BSkyB. In June 2009 the UK branch was sold to The Carphone Warehouse
The Carphone Warehouse
Carphone Warehouse Group PLC , known as The Carphone Warehouse, is Europe's largest independent mobile phone retailer, with over 1,700 stores across Europe. It is based in the United Kingdom and is a 50% subsidiary of Best Buy...
and merged into its TalkTalk
TalkTalk
TalkTalk is a pay television, telecommunications and internet service provider company headquartered in London, United Kingdom...
operations. In September 2009, to avoid bankruptcy, the board decided to reverse the 10:1 stock split and increase capital by 180 million Euro.
As of 2009, Tiscali operates only in its home market.
Services
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
internet access and telephone services. Tiscali SpA briefly operated an IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
service in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(available in the cities of Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, Cagliari
Cagliari
Cagliari is the capital of the island of Sardinia, a region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means castle. It has about 156,000 inhabitants, or about 480,000 including the outlying townships : Elmas, Assemini, Capoterra, Selargius, Sestu, Monserrato, Quartucciu, Quartu...
, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
and Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
) from 11 December 2007. Its UK television service, Tiscali TV was acquired by TalkTalk
TalkTalk
TalkTalk is a pay television, telecommunications and internet service provider company headquartered in London, United Kingdom...
in 2009 as previously mentioned.
Tiscali's former Carrier Company, Tiscali International Network
Tinet
Tinet, a Neutral Tandem company, is a global carrier that services the IP and Ethernet wholesale market. With network presence and customers in EMEA, Americas and APAC, Tinet is a service provider offering global IP Transit and Ethernet connectivity to Carriers, Service and Content...
, is a pure play carrier business delivering wholesale services including Global IP Connectivity, MPLS lines
Multiprotocol Label Switching
Multiprotocol Label Switching is a mechanism in high-performance telecommunications networks that directs data from one network node to the next based on short path labels rather than long network addresses, avoiding complex lookups in a routing table. The labels identify virtual links between...
, Voice over IP
Voice over IP
Voice over Internet Protocol is a family of technologies, methodologies, communication protocols, and transmission techniques for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol networks, such as the Internet...
and Network Monitoring. As of May 2009 Tinet
Tinet
Tinet, a Neutral Tandem company, is a global carrier that services the IP and Ethernet wholesale market. With network presence and customers in EMEA, Americas and APAC, Tinet is a service provider offering global IP Transit and Ethernet connectivity to Carriers, Service and Content...
's IP/MPLS backbone counts 90 POPs and extends over 17 European countries and across the United States and Hong Kong. Its Autonomous Systems (AS3257) is a core ASN in the global Internet routing table, as well as the largest IPv6 backbone outside Asia. The network was sold to the Italian private equity firm BS Private Equity SpA on 27 May 2009, and renamed Tinet.
Tiscali ran similar web portal
Web portal
A web portal or links page is a web site that functions as a point of access to information in the World Wide Web. A portal presents information from diverse sources in a unified way....
s for each of its countries, which include features such as webmail, reviews, news, videos, dating, chat, radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, TV guide, streaming TV channels and others.
Tiscali 10.0 was Tiscali's integrated self-branded web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
, which was distributed with its dial-up Internet packages. It was produced by UltraBrowser
UltraBrowser
UltraBrowser is a graphical web browser developed by UltraBrowser.com Inc, based upon the Trident layout engine, part of Internet Explorer since IE version 4. The program is lightweight and features an advanced GUI which features various links, channels and search facilities. The latest version was...
Inc, and used Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
Trident
Trident (layout engine)
Trident is the name of the layout engine for the Microsoft Windows version of Internet Explorer.It was first introduced with the release of Internet Explorer version 4.0 in October 1997; it has been steadily upgraded and remains in use today...
rendering engine to display web pages. Since Tiscali's corporate re-branding exercise in 2004, the software has not been included in broadband
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
installation packs as it features Tiscali's original logo and design layout, and generally was designed for those with dial-up packages. Its version number was matched to that of UltraBrowser's most recent version of their own browser.
Sales and acquisitions
Beginning in 2004, Tiscali sold off many of its regional sub-companies to native telecommunications operators in order to focus more on prime target areas.- On 16 August 2004, Tiscali disposed of its AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n branch, Tiscali Österreich GmbH, to Nextra Telecom GmbH. - On 20 August 2004, Tiscali disposed of its South African branch, Tiscali (Pty), to MWEB Holdings (Pty) LtdMWEBMWEB is a South Africa's second largest Internet Service Provider founded in 1997. As of March 2011 it has approximately 350 000 subscribers...
. - On 23 August 2004, Tiscali disposed of its NorwegianNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
branch, Tiscali AS, to Telenor Telecom SolutionsTelenorTelenor Group is the incumbent telecommunications company in Norway, with headquarters located at Fornebu, close to Oslo. Today, Telenor Group is mostly an international wireless carrier with operations in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Asia, working predominantly under the Telenor brand...
. - On 30 August 2004, Tiscali disposed of its SwedishSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
counterpart, Tiscali AB, to Spray Network AB, then a subsidiary of LycosLycosLycos, Inc. is a search engine and web portal established in 1994. Lycos also encompasses a network of email, webhosting, social networking, and entertainment websites.-Corporate history:...
. - On 16 September 2004, Tiscali disposed of its Swiss counterpart, Tiscali AG, reaching an agreement with Smart TelecomSmart TelecomSmart Telecom is an Irish telecom operator that started as a phone card seller. It is also the third largest provider of cost-sensitive telecom services sector in Ireland, behind the incumbent operator Eircom and BT Ireland. It currently has an estimated 50,000 land-line customers and 18,000...
. - On 19 October 2004, Tiscali sold its South African mobile telephone network, Tiscali Mobile, to VodacomVodacomVodacom is a pan-African mobile telecommunications company, and was the 1st cellular network in South Africa. It provides GSM service to more than 35 million customers in South Africa, Tanzania, Lesotho, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Revenue for the year ended 31 March 2008...
. - On 29 November 2004, Tiscali disposed of its Belgian subsidiary, Tiscali N.V, reaching an agreement with
Scarlet België
Scarlet (telco)
Scarlet is a telecommunications company active in The Netherlands and Belgium as an Internet Service Provider and provider of fixed and mobile telephony. It has minor operations in Luxembourg, Curaçao and Sint-Maarten....
.
- On 1 February 2005, Tiscali sold its Danish company, Tiscali Denmark A/S, to Tele2Tele2Tele2 AB is a major European telecommunications operator, with about 34 million customers in 11 countries. It serves as a fixed-line telephone operator, cable television provider, mobile phone operator and Internet service provider.- Overview :...
. - On 5 May 2005, Tiscali sold the FrenchFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
ISP, Liberty Surf to Telecom ItaliaTelecom ItaliaTelecom Italia is the largest Italian telecommunications company, also active in the media and manufacturing industries. Now a private concern listed on the Borsa Italiana, it was founded in 1994 by the merger of several state-owned telecommunications companies, the most important of which was...
. - On 31 January 2007, Tiscali disposed of its GermanGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
business to consumer activities to Freenet.de AGFreenet.deFreenet AG is a German telecommunications and web content provider. The company was formerly a subsidiary of Mobilcom. In 2004, its EBITDA was 471.5 million euro. In 2007, Freenet.de merged with Mobilcom, a deal which took around two years to complete, and the resulting company changed its name to...
, at a sum of €EuroThe euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
30 million. It later sold its business to business transactions on 5 February 2007 to Ecotel Communication AG, with future intentions to leave the German market altogether. - On 19 June 2007, Tiscali disposed of its DutchNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
branch, Tiscali BV, to Royal KPN NVKPNKPN is a Dutch landline and mobile telecommunications company, including both 2G and 3G mobile operations...
. - On 11 October 2006, Tiscali announced that it was to focus on the UK and Italy as its prime ISP targets, with plans to introduce new services to them including a mobile network operator and new IPTV products to the United Kingdom by its acquisition of Homechoice.
- On 31 December 2008, Tiscali shut down its IPTV service in Italy.
- On 27 May 2009, Tiscali sold its International arm, TinetTinetTinet, a Neutral Tandem company, is a global carrier that services the IP and Ethernet wholesale market. With network presence and customers in EMEA, Americas and APAC, Tinet is a service provider offering global IP Transit and Ethernet connectivity to Carriers, Service and Content...
to BS Private Equity firm. - On 30 June 2009, Tiscali sold its UK subsidiary to The Carphone WarehouseThe Carphone WarehouseCarphone Warehouse Group PLC , known as The Carphone Warehouse, is Europe's largest independent mobile phone retailer, with over 1,700 stores across Europe. It is based in the United Kingdom and is a 50% subsidiary of Best Buy...
following regulatory approval from the European UnionEuropean UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. The service was rebranded as TalkTalkTalkTalkTalkTalk is a pay television, telecommunications and internet service provider company headquartered in London, United Kingdom...
in January 2010.
Financial and economic data
On 31 December 2009:- 744 workers
- there are 1,861,473,919 common shares of Tiscali
- 570,000 adsl customers of Tiscali
Shareholders
Today the shareholders of Tiscali are:- Renato Soru 17.788% of shares
- Ignis asset management limited 4.886%
- Norges Bank 2.1%
See also
- 12move
- Net Neutrality
- TalkTalk TV
- Tiscali International Network
- Traffic shapingTraffic shapingTraffic shaping is the control of computer network traffic in order to optimize or guarantee performance, improve latency, and/or increase usable bandwidth for some kinds of packets by delaying other kinds of packets that meet certain criteria...