MILAN, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Virgin Fibra, a start-up backed by the group founded by British entrepreneur Richard Branson, has teamed up with Open Fiber to offer another competitor in the broadband market in Italy.
The partnership agreement provides for Virgin Fibra's new connectivity services to be offered on Open Fiber's fast fibre to home network, the Italian firm said in a statement.
Virgin Fibra, led by telecoms and media industry veteran Tom Mockridge, has started marketing the services at a monthly price of 29.49 euros.
The entry of the Virgin brand increases competition in a sector where former monopoly Telecom Italia has come under pressure from recent market entrants such as France's Iliad.
"I am thrilled that so many Italian investors have decided to join me and the Virgin Group to help innovate in the Italian broadband market," Mockridge said in a statement.
Virgin Group is among the investors in the new group and is also the licensor of the brand.
Open Fiber, majority owned by state lender CDP, has over 300 national and international partner operators, which develop digital services on the company's ultra-fast broadband network. ($1 = 1.0003 euros) (Reporting by Cristina Carlevaro and Keith Weir, editing by Federico Maccioni)