On the surface one has to say, "so, what does this matter" when the news emerged on Friday that UK mobile retailing giant Carphone Warehouse may buy UK broadband operator Tiscali.
First you have to recognize that Carphone Warehouse (and sister stores across Europe named "The Phone House") may be the best retail operation in mobile. Their sales teams are smart, well informed, can discuss pros and cons of various handsets, service plans, offers and know what works, especially with data and 3G dongles.
Second, they share the same parent investors with BestBuy here in the USA. Recently, BestBuy launched Best Buy Mobile, taking lots of lessons from their UK relatives.
Third, BestBuy has purchased SpeakEasy, a VoIP player who relies heavily on client Covad for DSL and T1 access. The fit of Tiscali into the mix means that BestBuy and Carphone Warehouse can roll out a converged VoIP, Data and Mobile service in the UK, then hunt around here in the USA for a network operator and do the same thing.
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