Iliad has reportedly tabled a bid for Vodafone's Italian operations—unsurprising given challenges in that market for both players.

Press reports appear to be a concerted effort to pressure Vodafone to deal. There is the potential to resolve Vodafone's leverage issues, but there are implications for Vantage Towers.

Regulatory approval remains very much in question, but it makes sense to test the system with the potential for very positive read-through elsewhere. If a deal can be struck, it will likely be just the beginning of a long and checkered road.

Just three players now account for most French broadband connections: Orange’s DSL market share is closing on 50%, Iliad’s rose to 25% from consolidation with Alice, while SFR’s dropped to 23.7%, with Neuf’s rebrand imminent. Cable remains a minimal presence on broadband

Iliad is to recover the No. 2 spot on the French broadband market, behind France Télécom’s Orange, after acquiring Alice, ending Telecom Italia’s ill fated five-year French venture

Iliad will be challenged to meet its target of a steady EBITDA margin of 36% in 2008 despite further cuts in mobile termination charges due to the continued drift of the subscriber mix to higher cost (for Iliad) full telephony packages. Some benefit to cash flow could result from reduced charges for one-off LLU services to be mandated by regulator ARCEP

France is the first major European market where a large scale fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) deployment is under way. Numericable and France Télécom, as well as unbundlers Iliad and Neuf Cegetel, are launching triple play offers over fibre to households. Public authorities actively support the plans, to boost France's growth prospects. This report examines the commercial context for fibre deployment in France