(Telecompaper) VimpelCom and CK Hutchison have received preliminary bids for some of the assets owned by their Italian subsidiaries Wind and 3 Italia from Fastweb, Iliad and Digicel, according to unnamed sources cited by Bloomberg. The assets include redundant frequencies and around 5,000 wireless towers and would be used to create a new mobile operator in Italy with a view to persuading the European Commission's anti-trust authorities to green light the merger of Wind and 3 Italia. The preliminary bids were presented to EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager, said the sources.