DOWN SO LONG

The telecom industry has been in a state of economic crisis for such a long time, it's difficult to remember the upside. But there is one. Even in bad times, innovation is still this industry's strongest characteristic. New methods for delivering high-speed data connections to homes and businesses are being created. Telecom carriers are discovering new ways to enhance and maintain their voice and data networks, figuring out how to operate them more efficiently and how to make more money from them. Wireless technology is entering its third generation.

The networks you create, manage and enhance are the connective tissue of business, entertainment, education and even our personal lives. Broadband, in its broadest sense, is integral to the improvement of the American economy.

That's ironic, given the financial insolvency, regulatory morass and executive misconduct that tends to overshadow everything else and threatens the reputation — if not the future — of the telecom industry. But it's true. That's why finding realistic solutions to telecom's current crisis is so critical.

Those solutions likely will be many and varied — ranging from regulatory intervention that would correct the competitive situation and allow fallow network capacity and spectrum to be cultivated, to economic stimulus that would jump-start investment in technology innovators and help reinvigorate the sector. It's also why the difficult decisions — the corporate “rightsizing,” the bankruptcies and the capex reductions among them — are necessary, no matter how painful they may be. For any of those methods to be effective, however, the ethics-lacking executives currently tainting telecom must first be eradicated.

When we redesigned this magazine a year ago, one of our main objectives was to demonstrate that telecom is a vital industry despite increasingly difficult economic circumstances. We still believe that.

We've had to make difficult choices and alter our own strategy, just like many of the companies we cover. We will be consolidating several issues during the rest of this year and publishing 40 issues next year. Our news focus and the breadth of our coverage will not change, however, and we will provide even more timely coverage of breaking news on our Web site and in several new e-mail newsletters that will be introduced in coming months.

The reality about telecom is that it is destined to be a smaller industry than was once expected. But much of what made the sector so exciting during the boom years is still around: the invention, construction and operation of the central nervous system of 21st century society. It's critical that we not get so mired in the malaise that we overlook — or worse, forget altogether — what makes this industry vital and sustainable.