Lombard Lobs A Grenade

The CEO of France Telecom, Didier Lombard, gave an interview to the Financial Times about the new roaming charges:

…likened the proposals to Communist-style planning. "In the past it is only the eastern part of Europe which has been linked to this type of regulation,"

Ouch, that’s heavy. Anarchist – maybe, Populist – definitely, but even I wouldn’t insult someone by using the “C” word. I thought that word was banned in Europe since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The EU came right back with a quote from Martin Selmayr:

“I have the impression that somebody needed to explain the difficulties and the lack of performance of a company that is according to this interview worse than that of other telecom companies in the EU. The EU is of course always a good scapegoat for these issues."

Ouch, you’re only crying because your rubbish.

I do notice that Martin Selmayr is a relatively youthful 36 – he might live to reject those rash words…