*

Iliad and Wind Tre potential tie-up could reduce operators

to

three

*

Iliad previously failed to clinch deals with Vodafone ( VOD )

*

Telecom Italia explores AI cloud deal with Nvidia ( NVDA )

By Elvira Pollina and Philippe LeroyBeaulieu

MILAN, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Telecom Italia (TIM)

would be pleased to see consolidation in the country's telecoms

sector, even if competitors make the first move, the head of

Italy's former phone monopoly said on Thursday.

"We welcome any kind of market consolidation that will make

the market more balanced and rational," Chief Executive Pietro

Labriola told analysts during a post-results call when asked

about a potential tie-up between rivals Iliad and Wind Tre.

A deal would reduce the number of mobile operators in one of

Europe's most competitive telecoms markets to three from four.

"Whoever it is that proceeds with the market

consolidation in Italy will be a good sign for us," Labriola

said.

French telecoms group Iliad failed to clinch an accord

with the Rome government to combine its Italian operations with

those of state-backed TIM earlier this year after it had

previously sought to buy Vodafone's ( VOD ) operations in the country in

2024. Vodafone ( VOD ) ultimately sold its Italian operation to

Swisscom's Fastweb.

Labriola said TIM would provide the market with more

details over potential benefits stemming from partnerships the

company is working on with state-backed financial conglomerate

Poste Italiane at the presentation of its business plan

update next year.

TIM and Poste, whose business spans from mail and parcel

services to insurance and broadband, announced this week a joint

venture on cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) after

launching a combined retail energy offer.

Meanwhile, TIM is in talks with Nvidia ( NVDA ) after

the U.S.chipmaker sealed a 1 billion euro partnership with

Germany's Deutsche Telekom to develop AI cloud for

industrial applications, said Elio Schiavo, the head of TIM's

enterprise division.

"We are looking at this trying to size how big is the

effort, but more importantly how big is the opportunity that can

be taken together," he said.