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.

Vodafone's strategic direction appears little altered since its change of CEO earlier this year. In this report we look at the company’s overall global positioning and prospects.

Comparisons between the French and UK broadband market are thought-provoking. In France there will be 3 million DSL connections and 210,000 unbundled lines by the end of 2003; in the UK in October this year there were 1.5 million DSL connections and just 7,800 unbundled lines. In the first of two reports we look at how local loop unbundling (LLU) in France is changing the market outlook for incumbent and altnets alike.

BSkyB’s quarterly results will be delivered on Friday 14th November. Prior to these new figures, this report gives our views on the attainability of BSkyB’s medium term targets.

On 24th November, the FCC hopes finally to force through mobile number portability to the US market. In this report we look at the impact that MNP has had in European markets, drawing conclusions for the potential impact in the US and Japan, and the future of MNP in Europe.

The service from '3' in the UK is one of the few examples of a 3G network in action in Europe. In this report we look at the evidence of customer experiences at 3 to determine the potential popularity of the services to a wider audience. Our sources include two studies performed by GSM operators and an NOP survey.

This note updates on the positioning strategies of ISPs serving the DSL market in autumn 2003, as a companion to our recent reports on Cable [2003-38] and Broadbanders [2003-39]. The UK Internet market is slow moving and we expect just over 20% of Internet households to have migrated to broadband by the end of Q4 2003, up from 15% in H1 2003. A substantial share of narrowbanders will switch ISPs when migrating, making customer retention the key focus of ISP strategies.

This report looks at the characteristics of today’s UK broadband users in order to understand (a) likely future trends in subscriber numbers growth; and (b) how usage patterns vary between broadband and narrowband customers. We carried out a large piece of market research during the summer and the results are presented here.

The UK cable sector is now hardly covered by investment bank analysts. (It may be impossible to find anyone who isn’t tarnished by having a previous ‘Buy’ recommendation on the stocks.) But since NTL’s return from its near death experience, its share price has performed extremely well. This note takes a close look at the fundamentals for UK cable.

In this report we compare the mobile markets and operator business models in Western Europe, the US and Japan. We examine the main differences, and judge whether convergence is possible or likely.