BB CONSOLIDATION://What comes after O2/Be?

The O2/Telefonica acquisition of Be looks like it will be followed by other PTTs (see Telenor and Telecom Italia abroad or KPN in its home market), altnets (Versatel, QSC, freenet), mobile and satellite operators (Sky in the UK and maybe Italy), and even cable operators (UPC in Austria), not to mention retailers, raising their stakes in the BB market.

Some of the questions this raises:

• Who will by AOL Europe? Plenty of interest for individual country operations.
• Will BT copy KPN's strategy, buying up rivals at home? How far are regulators willing to let the incumbent go? They risk sinking LLU regulation altogether.
• Will Tiscali be around in another 12 months or so?
• What will O2 do in Germany?
• What is Vodafone (an 'infrastructure-light approach') up to?
• What will these boxes be able to do?