Carly, you go girl

When 60s hipster Carly Simon made her 80s comeback, she sang--in a rather sad lament about long-term relationships being as exciting as they are going to get--that people should come to terms with the idea that it's all about "the slow and steady fire." After all, you can't make the birds sing, set the fireworks off or make the walls come down every time. Can you?

Well, I know you can. I was referring to the rest of the readers.

Another famous Carly, one that happens to be the CEO of HP, is singing the same song to the analyst community. Carly Fiorina blasted analysts recently in a Financial Times article for setting unrealistic expectations for tech companies in terms of quarterly earnings. She also said that putting too much emphasis, once again, on analysts' estimates in general is a mistake.

She's right. Major players in the telecom industry have been around for decades if not already into their second centuries. They would probably perform better if they had the flexibility and freedom from outside pressures to continue building and acting to secure a prosperous long-term future. It is difficult to do so when they have to worry about getting critiqued on their performance every 90 days. (If you're still thinking about the first Carly, then I hope for your sake the interval is much shorter.)

Yes, corporations must be accountable to shareholders. And with the shenanigans coming out of corporate boardrooms so far this century, the need for a regular accounting is undeniable. But companies, like civilizations, need to think longer term. The pressure to meet quarterly analysts' projections is one of the things that got this industry in trouble a few years ago. Carriers and large public vendors need a little credit for building--and should be encouraged to continue building--that slow and steady fire.

As is often the case, being right doesn't mean Carly II will change anything. It was good enough just to be reminded that we need not set the bar so high, so often. Besides, as you will see by some of the stories below, if it weren't for quarterly earnings, the month of July would be a pretty slow news month in telecom.

And speaking of quarterly earnings...given the way stocks go up and down with the chaos around the world, can you imagine how volatile a stock Google will be when it goes public? Every time a new virus comes along, which is way too often already, there will be a new turn on the Google rollercoaster. It should be quite a ride for those with the stomach for it. These days, I prefer a nice carousel. But I do like my fires a-cracklin'.

E-mail me at tmcelligott@primediabusiness.com