Risk and reward

Bankruptcy, one way or another, usually is a CEO killer. Not many CEOs have followed companies into bankruptcy, guided them throughout the recovery process, emerged from the process still at the helm and continued to stay on as the specter of bankruptcy has faded further into the past.

Global Crossing CEO John Legere is one of the exceptions, and in helping Global Crossing map out a new path to profit and away from past scandal, sticking with a once-crippled firm isn't the only risk he has taken. He also has deliberately reshaped a company that was once emblematic of the ambitious, but top-heavy, telecom juggernauts of the last decade. He's made it into a scrappy carrier more than pleased to serve as a foil to the new class of telco giants for enterprise clients that don't want to be just another account number notched in the belt of MegaMerger Inc.

Appearing to be satisfied with being number two doesn't normally win you friends on Wall Street, but Global Crossing ultimately sees a larger potential reward for that risk — it can solidify and increase its position with those clients. If you're in it, you can win it. Read Carol Wilson's profile of Global Crossing on page 36 to find out more.

Sprint is another one of this week's risk takers. The company just became the largest carrier in the world to establish a specific roadmap to deploy Mobile WiMAX, and in the process shun a variety of other 4G alternatives. Mobile WiMAX sorely needed the support of a major U.S. carrier and Sprint's endorsement arguably validates the ongoing efforts of an entire ecosystem.

So you might ask where the risk is for Sprint if it has ensured the technology's viability by endorsing it, and if vendors like Intel, Motorola and Samsung are alongside to help — giants who can make markets also make risk moot. Yet, Sprint's recent financial past is scarred by declines in revenue, profit and subscribers. Meanwhile, it recently announced its EV-DO Rev. A upgrade, and right on the heels of that, its decision to deploy WiMAX. To Wall Street, this might look more than a little like Sprint is pursuing a lot of network investment at a time when financial strength is draining. Kevin Fitchard's outlook for the future of mobile broadband is on page 8.

Elsewhere in this issue, Tim McElligott looks at the fate of session border controllers, and Ed Gubbins gauges potential directions for carrier capex. Also, look for our resident pragmatist, Neale Martin, on page 26, and brief assessments of the softswitch/media gateway markets and the home networking sector on pages 30 and 32, respectively.

And please let us know what your thoughts are on the stories in this issue of Telephony, as well as what you think is missing from these pages. You can reach me at doshea@telephonyonline.com.

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