The latest financial fad in the industry consists of writing down the book value of assets―such as 3G licences―in order to restore a sense of reality to the balance sheet. Such actions can easily be misinterpreted by investors still in pain after having their fingers burned in the technology boom... Yes, they are the telecomms industry's 'WMDs'― 'writedowns of mass dementia'. There is, today, a bull market in bearish sentiment when it comes to the telecomms sector. Once bitten―and burnt, in an anatomically 'digital' sense―the investment community is twice shy. For both the industry and its erstwhile backers this is unsustainable. Fingers heal.
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