Bandwidth and the bottom line
Stephen Hardy
Editor in Chief and Associate Publisher
It doesn`t matter if you`re in long distance or local; it doesn`t matter if you`re incumbent or alternative. If you`re one of the thousands of carriers now scrambling for customers, you need one thing to stay in business--capacity. And the way technology and bandwidth demand are headed, chances are that capacity will entail fiber optics.
Of course, there are all kinds of ways you can obtain this capacity. You can build your network yourself. You can lease capacity from existing networks. You can buy, lease, or swap dark fiber. Or you can use a combination of these techniques. Yet, regardless of which option you pursue, we`re talking big bucks--your bucks.
So if you`re in the market for capacity, finding the companies that will meet your needs most economically is essential. And if you sell capacity, differentiating yourself from the other providers battling for the bandwidth buck will make or break multimillion-dollar deals. Meanwhile, companies that facilitate this interaction--who may provide financing or installation services--must make their presence known as well.
And at the center of this maelstrom, you`ll find Fiber Exchange.
This issue of Fiber Exchange is the first of four such supplements that will appear in Lightwave in 1999. Each issue of Fiber Exchange will address the information needs of senior communications executives at both communications service providers and carrier`s carriers as they attempt to keep pace with the business aspects of constructing, buying, leasing, selling, and co-venturing fiber-optic communications capacity and infrastructure.
This, the inaugural issue of Fiber Exchange, presents the three primary elements that will form the core of each supplement:
Cover Story: A broad trend piece covering a communications capacity market segment.
Market Intelligence: Profiles of capacity buyers and sellers, what they offer (or seek) and why, and how they position themselves versus their competition.
Technology & Profits: A look at how technologies or applications affect the bottom line.
Future issues of Fiber Exchange will build upon this core. We`ll look at financing and the establishment of value propositions and business cases for various infrastructure strategies. Our news stories and articles will provide both information and analysis that focus on what`s most important--your ability to meet your customers` requirements efficiently and profitably.
We`re confident that you`ll share our excitement about Fiber Exchange and the opportunities that the current bandwidth environment presents for both incumbents and upstarts. After you`ve reviewed this issue of Fiber Exchange, let us know what kinds of articles you`d like to see in future editions. We`re planning on being around for a while--just like you.
Stephen Hardy
Editor in Chief and Associate Publisher