European digital TV take-up enjoyed a mild recovery in 2003, adding about 4 million households to reach 30 million households at the end of the year. We expect the momentum to build in 2004 and 2005. This is the main conclusion of our assessment of European trends in 2003 of take-up of digital satellite TV (DST), digital terrestrial TV (DTT) and digital cable TV (DCT).

Handset sales in the UK and the rest of Europe have reportedly been strong over the last few months, with camera phones selling well. In this report we look at our most recent survey of UK mobile handset owners to investigate whether this is a result of stronger consumer demand, or whether purchasers have been responding to cheaper offers from mobile operators.

We write regularly about Free, the French ISP that is leading Europe in unbundling local loops. Through its proprietary technology, the Freebox, Free now offers cheap DSL access, free VoIP (voice over Internet) telephone calls and a limited TV offer, over unbundled local loops. Iliad, Free’s parent company, is preparing for flotation and the company has released details about its performance and plans.

As we predicted in our last report on the music business, the end of 2003 saw the beginning of the corporate activity that the industry has been itching to carry out for a decade. In this note, we look at the major record companies’ current position in the world music industry and consider how it is likely to evolve in 2004 and beyond.