Every net is full of holes

This astute observation from the immortal Alan Partridge has stood the test of time, and also allows me to work an oblique and pathetic Swiss Cheese reference into this post. A Platinum Club charter member and long-time mega-uber value reader alerts me to something which I missed a couple of weeks back, and haven't seen coverage of anywhere else. The Zurich municipal electrical utility company (EWZ) has a diversification strategy into telecom, and the city council has applied to the district council for a CHF200m loan to build an open access FTTH network. Unsurprisingly, Swisscom and Cablecom have made statements about how this throws up questions regarding the role of the state and of state aid. The three year pilot phase expires on 8th July, after which the next phase of buildout will be put to a council vote and public referendum. Thus another front opens in the emerging conflict between muni nets and vested interests.