The future's bright, the future's O2

I've been to see a rather bullish O2 today, and in contrast to those press conferences where the supplier talks bullish and the journalists think bullshit, there was an optimistic mood from tech hacks today.

O2 has been in for a fairly smooth ride from the press recently. It could have been expected. Rivals have had the bumpy ride as Vodafone has been through considerable management unheavals and Orange has launched 'free' broadband to a damp squib reception from customers.

In contrast, O2 is still trying to figure out its plans following its acquisition by Telefonica. It's been fairly quiet, which has probably worked to its advantage, and the odd offer - such as making it free to receive calls when you go on holiday to Spain - have worked wonders for its popularity.

But after all its quietness, O2 still does have some way to go.

Its broadband offering, courtesy of its acquisition of Be, is on the cusp of a rollout explosion - due to happen between now and the summer.

Its execution of fixed/mobile convergence is pretty much non-existent as well, and its strategy still requires quite some figuring out.

O2 says it may not even embrace convergence, if by that you mean WiFi/GSM handsets.

Today was a breath of fresh air for O2, but it might need to take a big gulp if it is to remain in popularity pole position.