Tiscali's chief executive, Tommaso Pompei, has resigned from his position following internal management disagreements over the operator’s future. Mario Rosso, one of Tiscali's directors and former CEO of Italian news agency ANSA, will replace him.

Tiscali has indicated that, despite the departure, they still intend to pursue the targets indicated in their 2008-2012 business plans. They will also now "explore options to further enhance value for shareholders thanks to the consolidation process underway in the European telecommunications sector", said a spokesperson.

The short of it appears to be that Tiscali are now openly considering a merger to boost the businesses value. Vodafone, BT and Fastweb have been linked with talk of a sale before but the operator’s lack of a clear strategy is unlikely to go down well in the markets.