Telecom Italia board not considering TIM Brasil break-up plan: CEO

ROME (Reuters) - The board of Telecom Italia is not considering any plan to break up the company's Brazilian wireless unit TIM Participacoes, CEO Marco Patuano said on Tuesday. "The board is not studying any break-up of TIM Brasil. I will never grow tired of repeating that it is for us a strategic company," he said on the sidelines of an event. A government source in Brazil said on Monday the country's antitrust watchdog had not ruled out a possible break-up of TIM Brasil into units to be bought by local rivals. Speculation about a break-up of TIM Brasil sent Telecom Italia shares up as much as 3.6 percent on Tuesday morning. (Reporting by Alberto Sisto, writing by Danilo Masoni)