The Chinese cut interest rates, 60 basis points was the reduction, I think.
What do you think of this news about Internet capacity, which stocks will benefit?
Internet Capacity Major Theme For 1999 - Study
By Frances Hong
NEW YORK (Reuters) - With traffic over the Internet doubling every 100 days, the major theme for the computer, telephone and cable industries next year
will be the need to boost speed and capacity for information highway cruisers, a technology survey said.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers' ''Technology Forecast: 1999,'' due to be released Monday, sees demand for bandwidth, or the communications capacity to
quickly and efficiently handle voice, data and video, as the big technology issue for 1999.
Comparing the movement of data on the Internet to traffic jams on Los Angeles freeways, technology experts say the biggest challenge for the industry
going into 1999 will be squeezing more traffic through existing access lanes.
''We're seeing huge plays by the telephone, cable and satellite companies all struggling to be the bandwidth provider of choice to consumers,'' said Michael
Katz, of the professional services firm's global technology center.
In the last year, the phone and cable industries came to unexpectedly rapid agreement on standardized equipment for delivering high-speed Internet
connections and set the stage for widespread use of such services starting next year, he said.
''These providers will be challenged by decreasing prices they can charge for bandwidth and meeting increasing demand -- and they're hoping that traffic
goes up faster than the prices go down,'' he said.
Continued consolidation in the telecommunications market will lead to the emergence of four or five global supercarriers by 2002 as well as up to 4,000
national and regional niche players, the report said.
Bandwidth is also critical to the success of electronic commerce. ''Shopping over the Internet can be frustratingly slow, but increasing bandwidth can enrich
the (online) shopping experience,'' said Katz.
Meanwhile technology will continue to improve as its cost falls. Increasing competition in the industry will not only force consolidation but drive prices
even lower in 1999.
Consider the personal computer market. A year ago, the introduction of $1,000 PCs provoked even the non-techie to take a ''byte.'' Now Compaq, IBM
and other computer makers have flooded the market with computers for as little as $500 to $600 ahead of the holiday shopping season.
Experts also predict a wave of mergers among suppliers of enterprise resource planning software, which a growing number of companies are using to link
manufacturing, payroll, customer service and other operations, both on internal office networks and through suppliers' networks.
In coming years, the lines between the public Internet and internal office networks will continue to blur, which promises smoother rides for business and
recreational Web users alike.
More information on the report, the 10th edition of an encyclopedic survey of the computer and telecommunications industries, can be found at
www.pwc-tech-forecast.com. |
