Forsaken telcos

A couple of more signposts along the EuroTelco trail of tears:

Firstly, yesterday French regulator ARCEP reported that ULL lines in France currently number 2.228m, of which 592k (27% are fully unbundled). The progressive mix shift (a message I have been repeatedly stressing to clients) can be seen here. Also, this map of geographic distribution is quite interesting. ULL is still highly concentrated around Paris, but some regions are looking pretty porous (such as Pyrenees Atlantique, number 64).

Secondly, adding to KPN's woes is a brutal new offer from UPC, "Inruilweken," or "trade-in weeks." Basically, this is UPC bounty-hunting for KPN's DSL customers. UPC will buy out the customer's DSL contract for EUR50 in exchange for a bundled cable broadband/VoIP offering at EUR19.95 for the first six months, EUR29.95 thereafter. If that isn't enough, UPC is also throwing in a SIM card on its MVNO with EUR10 credit.