Ovum: Follow the wireline money

Overall, the current wireline market would not appear to sit well on a weak stomach. Some segments of the market--like the traditional voice business--aren't as much fun as they used to be, and even broadband access growth will soon begin to slow. The wireline industry also has aggressively consolidated, and an aftershock of that consolidation is less overall capital spending by wireline carriers.

But, that doesn't mean spending is entirely scarce. A new report from Ovum suggests carrier capex is alive and well in areas like optical. Also, while an M&A player like AT&T may be spending less for now, growing indepedents may be spending more. For equipment vendors, that means go forth and diversify if you haven't already, and hopefully for your sake, you have. Take a look at the independent telcos, the smart CLEC survivors (see story above) and international markets. AT&T can afford to wait. Can you?

For more:
Red Herring covers the Ovum report