It Ain't Heavy... It's My Debt

Michel Bon, chairman of France Telecom, is chatting by cell phone about 3G, a wireless technology on which he has wagered his career and his business. Suddenly, his voice starts to fade and become unclear. Then he disconnects completely. "I'm sorry," Bon says in his French-inflected English when he rings back a minute later. "My mobile, despite it is an Orange, I can say is not always perfect." France Telecom, of course, owns the lion's share of Orange.

If you want to understand why the European telecom industry is throwing more than $230 billion into upgrading...