Soma County Finery

During the heady days of the dotcom boom telecommunications giants like Marconi and Cisco seemed to be untouchable, controlling vast sectors of the market and generating enormous profits. However, as we all know, that quickly came crashing down, taking many top quality brands with it. What followed was years of mergers, failing stock prices, and shuttered factories as the market attempted to adjust and get back on track even as the internet became more widespread and instant communications a staple in business worldwide.

The telecommunications industry could be facing similar problems again today if the top corporations are not careful. End-user telecom companies producing equipment such as phone systems have been seeing a decline in stock value that could be an ominous sign for the future. However there is an option open for companies that are savvy enough to jump onto the gravy train and avoid the fate of Marconi: cloud computing. As more and more companies take advantage of the interconnectivity of the internet and move more of their business into “the cloud” demand for bandwidth and wireless spectrums have risen spectacularly. Services like online data storage and streaming video are becoming more prevalent and profitable. As such carrier services are in a prime position to grow rapidly in the coming years as the telecom industry attempts to adjust to the swiftly increasing demand.

In order to remain competitive many telecom companies are moving toward offering hybrid business models that combine selling telecom equipment with providing services to customers and other companies. Less money is being made off of selling the server, but rather off of selling the bandwidth use for the fiberoptic cables. This balanced approach of offering diverse services seems to be the most likely way for companies to remain competitive and rapidly adjust to changes in the marketplace as technology advances and demand continues to rise. Those who evolve survive; those that don’t, well…

Tags: Marconi