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Technology Stocks : Ciena (CIEN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jghutchison who wrote (9497)	8/28/2000 1:27:23 PM
From: cfoe	Respond to of 12623

Related to issue of problem A/R: thestreet.com Cash Crunch Threatens to Slow Optical Network Buildout By Scott Moritz Staff Reporter 8/25/00 11:00 AM ET A cash crunch threatens to chill the red-hot optical networking sector. Williams Communications (WCG:NYSE - news), a leading builder of the next-generation telecom networks that accommodate Internet growth, is about $1 billion short of funding for the next leg of its multibillion-dollar network expansion. To cover that shortfall, Williams is taking the unusual step of selling most of its stakes in networking start-ups that count on it as a big customer. Blinded? For networkers, a squeeze from two sides. The squeeze isn't dire for Williams, as the company also could tap credit lines or return to the junk-bond market to raise capital. But the Tulsa, Okla., company's shortfall marks the first sign that money is tightening for the telecom-service providers that invest huge sums to build new networks. Network builders have depended on stock appreciation to fund their past buildouts. But with their stocks well off their highs, a spending pullback looms. Given the huge networking bets investors have made amid runaway demand for this gear, any cutbacks will surely sting networkers' stock even further. This will have investors closely watching the bandwidth brigade -- network operators such as 360Networks (TSIX:Nasdaq - news), Global Crossing (GBLX:Nasdaq - news), Level 3 (LVLT:Nasdaq - news) and Broadwing (BRW:NYSE - news) -- for any signs of shortfalls like Williams'. The Missing Link Talk to investors and you hear more than a little concern about the prospect of a weak link in this tight chain of network builders and the companies that make networks run. With start-up networkers such as Sycamore (SCMR:Nasdaq - news), ONI (ONIS:Nasdaq - news) and Corvis (CORV:Nasdaq - news) generating little revenue yet valued in the tens of billions of dollars, investors could be expected to react sharply to any sense of a slowdown.