In continental Europe ‘public/private partnerships’ rolling out very high speed broadband (VHSB) access networks to consumers are the latest rage, with local governments pushing their own subsidy initiatives and seeking to secure cover from European Commission rules on state aid. These initiatives raise basic questions about the future of the telecommunications industry, including whether the supply of network infrastructure will be led by demand for applications or by the will of politicians, subsidies at hand

Group revenue growth was strong but helped by a one-off price change and LLU supply issues at Openreach

Virgin Media’s Q4 results were again mixed – increasing competition is continuing to have a significant effect on net additions but, as yet, most higher ARPU customers are staying put, permitting modest revenue growth

Iliad’s 2006 results were solid with broadband subscriber growth on target, DSL market share up one point to 19%, ARPU up 7% to €34.5/month and churn (enviably) at just below 1% per month. Over 1 million of Iliad’s subscribers have dropped France Télécom line rental and Iliad now completely owns those fixed-line telecoms customer relationships

UK broadband market growth fell to 3.2 million net additions in 2006 from 3.8 million in 2005. With 47% of UK households already on broadband, new entrant unbundlers (BSkyB and Carphone Warehouse) are racing against the clock of a maturing market to sign up customers

The internet is the UK’s fastest growing advertising medium, with spend rising 41% to £2.02 billion in 2006, and a further 30% rise expected for 2007. Three drivers underpin this growth: more intense use of the internet as broadband connections become standard, very strong growth in e-commerce, which is driving up paid-for search, and improving yields through rich-media formats. These factors will continue to propel growth of internet ad spend in the near future

Virgin Media’s Q1 top line results were again mixed, with a growing number of customers leaving as competition intensifies, despite the rebrand to Virgin. But it could have been worse; most higher-spending customers are remaining

Revenue growth was weaker but EBITDA growth remained strong and capex fell, sending cash flow growth strongly positive

French altnet Neuf Cegetel is buying Club Internet from Deutsche Telekom for an estimated €500 million and will overtake its rival Free as the #2 on the DSL market, still way behind Orange

The performance of the international business remains solid