The industry is divided into camps of optimists and pessimists. Can they both be right? What are the key signs to look for and what's best avoided? Cautious optimism is probably the order of the day, as the doomsayers are ignoring some fundamental facets of the industry's development... What it defies―or should that be deifies? ―is belief. The search is on to find an official patron saint of the Internet (www.santibeati.it). The decision is expected in the next month or so and for many it can't come a moment too soon and any divine assistance would be gratefully accepted by the industry just now. The onset of a new year is always a time for looking back and thinking ahead. For 2003, the industry is in an unprecedented state of flux between eternally-sprung hope and outright despair. Positive news flares briefly and fans the fires of expectation; each negative counter-punch lands a body blow to industry confidence. Much has been made of the depressed state of the telecomms industry in general and the downturn in telco capex in particular. There is no question that these reductions in expenditure are real enough, but behind the headlines which such changes generate in the press, there is a more complex story to be told when it comes to the nature and patterns of telco spending.
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