NETWORK TEST: The smart money

One of my favorite commercials growing up was the one that hawked a brand of oil filters using the slogan, “You can pay me now, or you can pay me later.” The message was simple and clear: Buy our really good oil filter that only costs a little more than the competition’s and avoid a big-time repair bill—or opt for the cheaper but inferior model and eventually see your vacation account wiped out. Common sense would dictate that the smart money was on the better oil filter.

Unfortunately, common sense often is overridden by another human instinct—panic—in times of crisis, or at least in times of perceived crisis. When someone loses their job, for instance, they immediately jettison seemingly non-essential items from their budget, such as visits to the dentist or the Quick Lube. This makes some sense, at least at first glance, when one considers the downside of hunger or sleeping in one’s car. Upon further review, however, it is easy to see the folly of such decisions. While it might be okay to put off a visit to the dentist or garage for a while, weeks have a tendency to quickly turn into months, and before you know it, your mouth is full of cavities, your engine has thrown a rod and you’re in a perpetual funk because your checkbook says you’re going to be vacationing at the community pool next summer.

I started to think about this as I was reporting a story on the test and measurement sector that appears in Telephony’s annual resource guide. The consensus of those I interviewed was that while opportunity exists in the sector, carriers are expected to continue their reticence towards spending money. This reticence is driven by the telecom meltdown (which forced carriers to slash their capital expenditure budgets and rethink their spending strategies) and by investor pressure (which is leading carriers to squeeze more value out of what they’ve already purchased). The end result is that unless test and measurement vendors can demonstrate to a carrier that it will receive a quick return on investment—generally six months to a year—they are going to have a very tough sell.

If true, this represents wrong-headed thinking on the part of carriers. The telecom industry is about to enter an age of hyper-competition, which is going to require carriers to work overtime to keep the customers they have. The only economically feasible way to accomplish that is to ensure a rewarding customer experience. The only way for a carrier to do that is to ensure their products and services are working at least as well—and preferably better—than advertised. Of course, that requires a meaningful investment in test and measurement equipment and systems. Like they say: You can pay now, or you can pay later.