Local loop unbundling

Local loop unbundling is the obligation imposed on the incumbent operator — France Télécom — to open its local loop (the copper pair running to the home) to alternative carriers, starting in the mid-2000s. Full unbundling let Free and others sell broadband by installing their own equipment in telephone exchanges. It is one of the causes of the collapse of internet and landline prices in France.

The link to your phone today: unbundling created the competitive market that made consumer VoIP mundane and virtual numbers cheap. Understanding this word means understanding why a French tradesperson can now hold a professional line over the internet for a few euros a month — a price structure a monopoly would never have set.