Summary
1. Every so often there are these calls in the industry to do complete overhauls of the landline legacy networks right away. 2. They are never based in reality. 3. The idea that telcos are going to “look a little bit past the dollars and cents,” especially during a recession, is implausible.
Analysis
In fact, telephone companies in general avoid making investments “if the business case isn't solid.” (Again, it is important to point out that Verizon’s FiOS is being supported by fiber to Fortune 2000 customers.) It is just not the case that “legacy networks are sucking up too much capital.” They are necessary to support the ongoing usage of TDM networks. Customers are still demanding T1s, etc.
This “sense of urgency...to leave the legacy infrastructure behind” and move hurriedly to IP can mainly be found in the minds of executives working at companies like Ericsson’s Redback Networks, which is anxious to get its router business up to a higher level. Even if it is true that there is a “coming tsunami of bandwidth demand,” it is not going to happen overnight. The telcos do have “multi-phased plan[s]” in place. They will have ample time to execute on them.
