John Judis blames Michael Powell’s deregulatory fixation for telecom’s collapse. “Powell has proven a disaster…Like Harvey Pitt, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Powell would be ripe for replacement–if his feckless, ideological approach didn’t so perfectly reflect the president he serves.” To be fair, telecom was starting to look a bit peaked before Powell was Chairman (although that’s also partly because Powell was something of an obstructionist on the commission before his ascent.) And, while I’m sure it’s risen lately, demand for broadband services was egregiously low back in 2000. Like campaign finance reform, it’s one of those things you’d expect people to be all over, but for some reason it just isn’t reflected in the numbers. Without a true “killer app” for broadband (Napster/Kazaa comes close, but it’s not it), low demand will continue to be one of the reasons why the big boys aren’t building out. That all being said, I agree with the fundamentals of Judis’s piece.
Category: Telecom
Fortunate Son.
In the wake of WorldCom, industry experts doubt FCC Chairman Michael Powell’s ability and desire to put the brakes on the telecom meltdown.
End of the Worldcom.
Joining Enron and Martha Stewart in infamy, Worldcom cooks the books for $3.8 billion. It’s not like either the telecom industry or the economy at large need another hit right now, and this one’s going to be a doozy. Good news for the Dems, at least, but I wonder what this’ll mean for UUNet. Update: Bush vows a probe into the situation. Hey, let’s not forget about Enron there, bud.