MILAN, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The head of FiberCop has step

down after less than seven months at the helm of the Italian

fibre optic grid operator controlled by U.S. fund KKR, a

source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

FiberCop was spun-off from former phone monopoly Telecom

Italia (TIM) in July, when a KKR-led consortium

completed an 18.8 billion euros ($19.6 billion) buyout of the

unit, which manages fibre cables stretching over 25 million

kilometres across Italy.

As part of the deal, the Italian Treasury took a 16% stake

in the wholesale-only connectivity provider, which is the main

piece of Italy's telecoms infrastructure and employs some 20,000

people.

At the time, the leadership was entrusted to Luigi Ferraris,

a veteran manager who has held top positions at a number of

Italian state-backed companies, including the national railways

and utility Enel.

Ferraris, 62, had been drawing up FiberCop's business plan,

which the company is due to present early this year.

($1 = 0.9593 euros)

(Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Editing by Valentina Za)