F.C.C. Chief Says Telecom Isn't Doomed by Cutbacks

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>

<[Note:  This item comes from reader Monty Solomon.   DLH]>

October 21, 2002

F.C.C. Chief Says Telecom Isn't Doomed by Cutbacks
By BARNABY J. FEDER

Don't send out an S.O.S. for the telecom equipment industry just yet.

Michael K. Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission,
urged in a speech early this month that telecommunications companies
spend more on new equipment to insure the survival of big suppliers
like Lucent Technologies, Nortel Networks and Cisco Systems. The
carriers' own recovery, he said, depended on the ability of those and
smaller equipment makers to remain solvent enough to continue
developing new technology.

As their industry's brutal recession continues, it does seem
increasingly likely that flagship vendors like Lucent and Nortel may
be forced into bankruptcy or some other revamping that wipes out most
or all of the investment of current shareholders. But the giant
carriers like AT&T, SBC Communications and Verizon see no need to
write relief checks to the equipment industry.

Industry analysts say, and equipment makers privately agree, that the
key suppliers will probably live on - although as smaller enterprises
- by focusing on products and services pegged to equipment they have
been selling the carriers for decades.

...

<http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/21/technology/21TELE.html>

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