Methinks this may not be unrelated to the exorbitant sums Orange (and all the rest, except Virgin) are committed to pay out for 3G licences. When I worked for them we were bombarded with highly-selective news on what a massive success 3G would be - how the technology was working well in Japan (oddly enough, they overlooked mentioning that subscriptions ran to barely 10% of break-even levels) My prediction was (cynic that I am) doom and gloom. Orange is about the only France Telecom subsidiary that makes any money - and the levels of money it's made in the past will henceforth largely be handed to Gordon Brown as license fees. Now they're scrabbling for a way to increase revenue. Am I alone in joining the dots? Or in remembering what "Oligopoly" means?