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Tiscali, one of the largest European internet service providers,

has appointed OMD Europe to handle its £60 million pan-European

media account.

OMD pitched against Carat International to win the business in 13

markets including the UK. Zenith Media was the incumbent. The account

will be co-ordinated from OMD Europe's offices in Milan, headed by

Attilio Redivo.

OMD UK will handle media in the UK. Other markets included in the win

are Spain, Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden and South Africa.

Despite the downturn in dotcom business, Tiscali has forged ahead with

expansion plans and acquired 25 ISPs since 1999, rebranding them all

under the Tiscalinet brand. It plans to increase marketing to its

database of seven million customers to cross-sell new internet offers as

well as its Tiscali-branded mobile phone service.

Tiscali axed 1,000 staff in the six months following its purchase of the

French ISP LibertySurf and the Dutch ISP World Online to reduce

operating costs and is seeking to break even by the end of this year. It

made a loss of 63.3 million euros for the second quarter, down from 103

million in the previous period.

Hilary Taylor, the general manager of OMD Europe, said: "This Tiscali

appointment is another great win for the OMD network. We are looking

forward to working with a company as big and innovative as Tiscali."

The win comes just a week after OMD won a major share of the £500

million Peugeot/ Citroen media account. The Tiscali creative account is

shared by Saatchi & Saatchi and BBDO.