Global telecom opportunities : lessons learned and new battles

The new opportunities available in the telecommunications and electrical industry were discussed. The events which have recently taken place in the industry have been primarily a result of technological improvements, regulatory change, customer choice, new entrants and increasing demand. Future developments were categorized into three areas called chaotic confusion, cataclysmic change, and customer competence. Customer competence was considered to be the dominant factor in the future success of any industry. It was suggested that in order to become customer competent, knowing what the consumer wants will be critical, therefore the dollars spent on research and development of customer needs and wants will have to be increased. One reason for Nortel's success is the fact that it went global to provide the company with a revenue base large enough to finance the large research and development budget required to turn customer demand into saleable products