France Telecom was a company which happens to have the government as shareholder. The company itself was making money by providing telecommunication services. A

France Telecom was a company which happens to have the government as shareholder. The company itself was making money by providing telecommunication services. As someone living in France, you did not had to pay France Telecom money if you were not using its services. France Telecom was only funded through invoicing customers. This is not the same than let say EDF, the French energy monopoly, where all the research to get nuclear energy was funded by the government through the CEA[1]. France Telecom had enough money to fully fund its research centres. They had in fact some of the best research labs. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commissariat_%C3%A0_l%27%C3%89nergie_Atomique http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commissariat_%C3%A0_l%27%C3%89n...