1.   Although asynchronous technology was developed in Europe, few European companies offered the technology until recently.

2.   Asynchronous technology takes any kind of multimedia signal and breaks it into packets that move randomly, or asynchronously, down optical fibers.

3.   Asynchronous technology works by routing data in discrete packets each with its own address, rather than in continuous data streams.

4.   European phone companies have had little incentive to change that or get into asynchronous technology themselves.