ZDNet UK / News and Analysis / Mobile IT / Mobile Working

Supercomm diversifies as telcos suffer

By Ben Charny, CNET News, 3 June, 2003 12:26

Daily Newsletters

Sign up to ZDNet UK's daily newsletter.

Topics

show, atlanta, Wireless, supercomm, Lucent, Wi-Fi

NEWS
Communications equipment makers gather in Atlanta on Monday for their largest annual convention amid fresh signs that their most important customers -- corporations, telephone companies and cable providers -- are still pinching pennies. Spending has been down for at least a year, but there were some signs of recovery lately, with the return to profitability, however unsteady, by the nation's largest phone companies. But Oren Shaffer, chief financial officer at Qwest Communications, said last week that Qwest spent "significantly" less in the first quarter on capital improvements than expected. The company has also "yet to see an increase in demand for information technology and telecom services from our large business customers," he said. Supercomm this year will be a more sombre event than in years past, industry observers say. The convention begins on Monday with Lucent Technologies chief executive Pat Russo's "pragmatic" address about how to recover from the three-year telecom tailspin. She'll suggest several new ideas that could spur a recovery, including improvements for the giant Ethernet networks that feed broadband, cable TV and telephone service to cities and counties. Another economic salve to be suggested at Supercomm 2003 is an attempt to put the nation's networks of fibre-optic or copper wires to better use. The networks that crisscross the country do relatively little more than deliver TV, telephone and broadband services. The Broadband Content Delivery Forum will be demonstrating five services, including videoconferencing and online gaming, that could improve carriers' financial picture. The forum is backed by heavyweights Hewlett-Packard, Lucent, Nortel Networks and Sprint. "Telecom is in a recession," said Will Walkoe, BCD Forum vice chairman and a Sprint employee. "But it's becoming more necessary than less." Christine Martino, director of HP's carrier grade server business, expects to hear of more cost-cutting measures similar to the effort now under way at three of the four major phone providers. Last Thursday, BellSouth, SBC and Verizon said they've agreed to use the same framework of fibre-optic hardware and software, and do much of the legwork together, as they expand their networks. Martino said it's a cost-saving measure for both the carriers and equipment vendors. "Carriers are moving away from proprietary systems developed in-house, because they don't have the research and development money any more," she said. "They are outsourcing. They are looking at common platform initiatives, looking at one platform and one operating system." HP intends to introduce at Supercomm a new server that telephone or broadband providers use in their networks. The CC3310 is HP's hard charge at Sun Microsystems, which makes a competing product called Netra, she said. This year's show floor and its broad range of equipment, from Lucent's new refrigerator-size telephone network switches to US Robotics' Wi-Fi PC cards, reflects another major effect of the spending cuts. A decade ago, Supercomm was the nearly exclusive domain of telephone network equipment, said US Robotics global product manager Kevin Goulet. This week, the show floor will be cluttered with home and office networking equipment from unexpected sources, all trying to find new ways of making money. For instance, US Robotics is expected to announce at the show that it is selling wireless home networking products, a relatively new arena for the company. "Supercomm's getting even more diverse," Goulet said. Not all of the tens of thousands of people expected to attend Supercomm are likely to be glum, although moroseness will be the prevailing mood, according to a smattering of interviews of expected attendees. Mark Straton, senior vice president of global marketing at phone and network equipment maker Siemens, believes a tussle between cable TV and telephone operators could end up spurring the industry. Cable providers are now selling telephone services, spurring a move by telephone companies to head off potential damage by selling video entertainment. That all takes new, faster equipment, much of which will be on display this week, Straton said. "This could cycle into a tornado," said Straton. "I don't know if it will spin in 2003, but it will start. When we get to 2004, we could end up with the perfect storm."
For a round-up of the latest tech business coverage, see the Business News Section. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Related stories

IBM, Cisco pursue IP intranet streaming

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

  • Login

Will not be displayed with your comment

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

BrownieBoy

@Jack, > Works really well for thieves.... Nice attempt to deflect the argument by tossing in a point that's totally irrelevant, even it were...

10 hours ago by BrownieBoy on AMD Ultrathins to challenge Intel Ultrabooks
bootlegger

Make that 13 people now - I got refused today at Manchester airport. I thought I was up to date on this legislation - I knew of the EU ruling from...

13 hours ago by bootlegger on UK airport body scans will not be opt out
tinycg

Don't forget to check out apps like GoodReader or SlideShark either, they're indispensible for people on the go in presentation situations. Best...

16 hours ago by tinycg on Four top iPad apps for people on the move
TerryRK

Well it seems there is something a number of us agree on. Why is the Ubuntu Unity launcher so ugly? I thought perhaps it was something to do with...

20 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Freebies202

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

1 day ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source
kevinmchapman

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

2 days ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Marg Menzies Harrison

Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...

2 days ago by Marg Menzies Harrison via Facebook on 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid
zdnetukuser

And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick... Kubuntu is late. Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions. cf.:...

2 days ago by zdnetukuser on Linux Minterface
Moley

@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...

2 days ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...

2 days ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
kevinmchapman

"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system." Point truly missed. Both use a...

2 days ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
TerryRK

whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article. I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...

2 days ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Dennis Nilsson

If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...

2 days ago by Dennis Nilsson via Facebook on ACTA stumbles in Germany
GHar123

I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....

2 days ago by GHar123 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
JCB33

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

2 days ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany
Moley

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
greycynic

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

2 days ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity
GrueMaster

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

2 days ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Frederick Wrigley

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

2 days ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Featured white papers

ZDNet Tech Family Tree - The history of the iPhone

ZDNet UK

ZDNet Tech Family Tree - The history of the iPhone

Download this a wholly original insight into Apple's most famous product, peruse the PDF and buy the history of the iPhone for your... Read more

How to prime your WLAN for employee devices

Aruba Networks

How to prime your WLAN for employee devices

Companies are finding the wireless LAN is under pressure as employees are bringing their own devices to... Read more

Six iPad tests for multimedia-grade Wi-Fi

Aruba Networks

Six iPad tests for multimedia-grade Wi-Fi

The University of Ottawa, Apple, Aruba Networks and others validate a multimedia grade Wi-Fi environment for scaling voice and video... Read more

Inside ZDNet UK

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

BlackBerry Bold 9790

BlackBerry Bold 9790

Make faster, smarter decisions using BI

Make faster, smarter decisions using BI

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault