To: Peace who wrote (859 ) 9/18/2000 2:55:18 PM From: Scrapps Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 2404 NEW YORK, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Merrill Lynch said investors' fears about an expected drop in spending on telecommunications equipment are overblown, since demand for equipment should continue to be very strong. -- said every year investors get spooked by concerns that U.S. telecommunications carriers will stop spending money on equipment, which triggers a drop in telecoms equipment manufacturer stocks. -- said U.S. carriers are indicating that their total capital expenditures for 2001 will decline by 3 percent. -- said in previous years, the initial forecasts of spending by carriers have been inaccurate, compared with their actual spending. -- said equipment companies should continue to see strong demand since U.S. carriers must continue to spend money to remain competitive; spending on equipment is growing as a percentage of overall capital spending; U.S. operators represent only a portion of a broader global equipment market. -- said expects that carriers ultimately will arrive at spending budgets that indicate capital spending growth of about 10 percent. -- said 10 percent growth would be below the growth expected in 2000, but it represents a more sustainable level. --said it expects that spending on telecoms equipment by U.S. service carriers will grow in the high teens, a rate consistent with the growth forecast for the industry.-- said some equipment segments will continue to grow faster than the overall industry, including optical networking, high-speed data networking and strategic access technologies such as ADSL. -- said Cisco Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:CSCO - news) and Nortel Networks Corp. (Toronto:NT.TO - news) are the best-positioned companies in these areas. -- said companies such as Tellabs Inc. (NasdaqNM:TLAB - news), ADC Telecommunications Inc. (NasdaqNM:ADCT - news), and UTStarCom Inc. (NasdaqNM:UTSI - news) should continue to perform well. biz.yahoo.com