In our assessment the European fibre optic cable market picked slightly up in Q3 2003 compared to the previous quarter and also compared to Q3 2002. We estimate that cable shipments for Western Europe (2.3m fkm) in Q3 were only marginally ahead of Q2, but that cable demand (1.7m fkm) was 9 percent ahead of Q2. This improvement, while mildly encouraging, may not be representative of any underlying increase in market activity, but instead may simply be due to the return to the ups-and-downs of a more familiar seasonal pattern.
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