A Ringer among the Telcoms In an area hammered by falling revenues and increased competition, SBC continues to add new customers and turn out strong earnings After the pummeling telecoms have taken in the market, the sector might seem like a graveyard for investors right now. Worse, the telecom market is in the midst of a horrendous capital crunch.
Huge networks are half-finished.
The upstarts are waiting for cash infusions that no one is willing to give them. Regulatory uncertainty is also hanging over the sector. As the industry shifts its focus from voice to data streaming, regulators are being forced to reconsider rules set up in the 1996 Telecom Act. That's because the distinction between local and long-distance service is becoming increasingly blurred as carriers begin to send voice and data traffic over the same networks. And SBC is well on its way to building out its networks for DSL and other high-speed data services through an initiative it calls Project Pronto.