(Telecompaper) Telecom Italia (TIM) has announced the resignation of the majority of its board of directors, in what has been seen as a way of pre-empting a move by activist fund Elliott to counter how the operator's largest investor Vivendi is running the company. In a statement, TIM said its chairman and Vivendi CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine would step down on 24 April along with deputy chairman Giuseppe Recchi and six other directors, calling on shareholders to vote for a new board on 04 May.