His fortunes were founded on real estate speculation and the accumulation of commercial television channels which gave him a virtual monopoly over commercial TV broadcasting in Italy.

BBC: NEWS | Europe | Corruption claims stalk Berlusconi

Rumors have been circulating since at least December that the chip giant is working on its own set-top box and hopes to pair it with a "virtual cable" service that offers unbundled channels.

ENGADGET

But he firm hopes once the virtual London is complete real companies will get involved and offer services through "channels" on its website.

BBC: Virtual worlds with real purposes

Its 150 news, music and entertainment channels draw to the site customers who spend real money for real goods at NetRadio's virtual music and software stores.

ECONOMIST: How well is net radio fulfilling its early promise?

It resulted in the Space for Science project, which aims to facilitate scientific and technical cooperation in South-East Europe by providing virtual, collaborative and education services to academic and higher education institutions through fast academic networks and two-way satellite channels.

UNESCO: Communication and Information