John O. Wilson, CEO of Wave Exchange LLC, said that the future of the carrier hotel or technology industry as a whole is "a difficult topic to qualify" and "if any of us gets it, we should be advising Alan Greenspan." With plans to expand they're current holdings, he announced, "We're bullish about the future."
Wilson acknowledged a slowdown and the "meltdown of the NASDAQ," but said "Fiber optics are gaining power. Wireless technology is a segment that will see tremendous growth. Wall Street is saying, 'Show me the money,' but when we solve the last mile impediment with the local phone companies holding on to it, we will see an explosion in bandwidth sales. There will be relentless growth there."
Citing WorldCom as an example, he noted they were only "5% along with development. That tells you we've only begun to scratch the surface." He predicted bricks and mortar would focus on outsourcing and opportunity would abound in the demand for redundancy. He also spoke of the role voiceover IP, streaming video and virtual networks will play in creating a steady demand for carrier hotels and data centers as demand for these grows.
Michael Liss, CEO of Fibernet, on the other hand, while speaking of the success of his own company, noted, "The increased role of bandwidth in all of our lives was demonstrated by the quick onset of the current recession. Information was piped in faster into markets around the world. It made the start of the recession more efficient."
He acknowledged that not everyone is prepared to call the current economy a recession, and joked, "Call it whatever you want." He observed, "Banks really have stopped lending. Even in 1991-92 we haven't seen banks stop lending this quickly." He noted the low-times telecommunications in general are now facing and added long distance carriers are in "a real bloodbath--they've really reached a low here."
While he didn't dismiss the potential for carrier hotels to cash in on the increasing demand for bandwidth, he predicted, "I don't see us coming out of this recession in six months like everyone keeps saying. A bunch of guys in collocation space were expecting to access the debt markets this year and are now working overtime in this environment. In the last 90 days no one has said 'Tell me where fiber is buried so I can buy an old industrial building and convert it.' That phenomenon is gone."
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