Excite in Co-Branding Deal With Italian Hub

European telco Telecom
Italia and Excite, Inc. entered
into a partnership today to jointly develop an Italian navigation site.

Under the non-binding agreement, sections of TIN
or the Telecom Italia Net site will be programmed by Excite. The Redwood City, CA-based portal player will also lend its search and directory services to the site for Italian language versions.

Launch of the Excite-powered Italian area is scheduled for sometime later
this year pending approval of agreements between the companies.

Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.

The venture marks another European foray by Excite, which also provides versions of its service in France, Germany, the UK, Holland and Sweden.

“Telecom Italia is a very strategic and strong partner for our
continuing expansion into Europe, ” added George Bell, President and CEO
of Excite, Inc. “We are excited to add Italy, a very important European
economy and a particularly fast-growing internet market, to our other
European initiatives.”