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EE may be feeling lonely as the only LTE operator in the UK so far, but it looks set to get some company soon as Vodafone gives more details on its investments and rollout plans. Over in France, Bouygues Telecom has also outlined plans for its launch later this year. This all adds up to some much-needed momentum for LTE in Europe.

The economic downturn, increased regulation that has affected call termination rates and roaming costs, and the onslaughts from over-the-top players have created a perfect storm for operators. Operators are now taking steps to protect their future businesses, and are exploring ways to boost revenue, but monetising data is hard to do.

The European Commission, intent on punishing what it believes to be anti-competitive activity in the form of illegal state subsidies for and dumping by China's equipment vendors, seems to be ignoring the very real fears held by Europe's own equipment vendors that they could be shut out of the lucrative Chinese market as part of retaliatory moves by China.

Operators are well aware of the threat that OTT presents, although some of their views--for example, that subscribers only use OTT apps because they are cheap--may be slightly off kilter. Nevertheless, if operators are still in any doubt about the severity of the threat, two reports this week provided some stark figures to illustrate how big a threat OTT is set to become.