OFF TOPIC (mostly)
> Just like here, the kids all had their cell phones. A girl and a boy
> met and were texting each other every day.
> Could anyone comment on the state of wireless and landline telephone
> services in Western Europe?
Almost all kids seemed to have mobile phones there far sooner than it happened in the US. The pre-paid plans in euroland are a lot better and were easier to find than in the US. A lot of that probably has to do with the fact that all incoming calls are free (but the caller gets raped on the charges). With very little cost you can have an incoming phone line and cheap two way texting (which probably also explains why SMS took off a lot more outside of the US).