The Tortoise & The Hare: A Telecom Parable
October 3, 2008
Great article the other day on xchangemag.com by Kelly Teal on the current economic conditions and the impact on telecom. The piece, Recession Expected to Hit Telecom in Second Half, looks at how telcos stand to fare given the actions of Congress, peppering in perspectives from various industry analysts. This projection I found of particular note:
Ed Vilandrie, co-founder and director of business and technology consultancy Altman Vilandrie & Co., added that fiber providers, carriers with their own transport and even entities such as data centers, stand to feel less pain than other industry players. That’s because they have infrastructure that clients need, and they can help customers reduce costs by making better use of the Internet and IP. “Middlemen,” on the other hand, such as resellers without their own facilities, are likely to struggle, Vilandrie said.
Economic uncertainty? No credit available? Economic downturn? Common sense and third party analysts alike validate the importance of owning and operating your own fiber optic infrastructure in this article. If this thing gets as bad as the Wall Street “experts” claim (I use quotes because I don’t want to say the word I’m really thinking — “idiots”), my vision in building AFS for the long run in 1999 is coming to fruition. It’s been a big race – the Tortoises against the Hares – with Wall Street “real smart guys” betting on the Hares since 1996. Credit crunch, downturn … this Tortoise is seeing the finish line … the Hares, well… they’re seeing the “finished” line.
What’s your take? Shoot Dave an email or post a comment below.
Written by Dave Rusin - Telecom ExecutiveComments
2 Responses to “The Tortoise & The Hare: A Telecom Parable”
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Fiber providers have a limited client base., which means a limited revenue capacity. You can only sell to people on your route — or more precisely in your lit buildings. You can build laterals but that will cost you big dollars.
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