Suppose the U.S. economy staged a recovery this year. Would that rescue telecom, the certified international basket-case of 2001? Not likely. This industry, which disgraced itself with wanton overinvestment in the late 1990s, is still absorbing excess capacity. The capital-funding problems, bankruptcies, job losses, and blown financial targets that roiled the industry last year are bound to drag on. "If anything, the general environment for communications will be worse during the coming year," says analyst Ken Leon, who follows telecom equipment for investment firm ABN AMRO.
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