For KPMG LLC optical and network equipment expert Ed Rodriguez, the gloom also is likely more of a blip than a long-term blight. Obviously, we are going through a bit of an unsettling time right now, and I think it's not just limited to the communications sector. If you just step back from it all, this is just the very beginning of what I think is going to continue to be an explosion in the overall evolution of the Internet infrastructure. But the mounting attention to the slowdown may indeed have an impact, Rodriguez acknowledges. It's pretty clear that when you've got the big carriers cutting back which have such a significant impact on the entire industry and when you see what's happened with the dot-coms, there's nervousness out there.
People are concerned, and they are saying 'Wait a minute.
There is just a lot of noise in the system that has got everyone concerned and what that's probably going to do is add at least a quarter to what might have been a quicker recovery. Even among the affected businesses there is concern but not panic. Internet equipment giant Cisco Systems Inc. is among the businesses feeling that economic pain as network operators scale back on their gear orders. Larry Lang, vice president of the service provider market business, says it is a predictable hangover caused by the market over exuberance in 1999, but it is not a reason to get out. But we're financially sound.