The Epoch Partners Vendor Matrix is a tool that can be used to quickly gauge the impact of telecommunications events on vendors and service providers. The domestic telecom industry is in flux, and the Vendor Matrix helps investors stay ahead of the curve.
The Vendor Matrix is designed to help investors monitor relationships between communications service providers (including AT&T, Level 3, and SBC Communications) and communications equipment vendors (such as Cisco, Ciena, and Nortel). Epoch's team of research analysts tracks contract developments between communication companies and incorporates new announcements into the Vendor Matrix. We organize equipment contracts in six categories: optical equipment, switching/routing equipment, access equipment, voice-over-IP products, wireless infrastructure equipment, and other equipment. If a particular category contains no entries that does not necessarily mean the company does not purchase that category of equipment; it simply means we do not have knowledge of a publicly announced relationship.
The Epoch Partners Vendor Matrix gives investors insight into the telecom supply chain. Over the past year, telecom system and component vendors have faced a strategic shift. Service providers changed their approach from an all-out arms race -- a boon to networking equipment vendors -- to "success-based" budgets that squeezed payments to equipment vendors. As a result, some vendors have seen backlogs evaporate, citing "cloudy visibility." The Vendor Matrix is a tool for measuring the breadth of this type of industry transition. For example, if a service provider cuts spending or goes out of business, the Vendor Matrix will help investors quickly deduce which suppliers would be affected. Conversely, if a particular carrier raises a round of financing, investors might use the Matrix to determine which vendors could benefit.
*The Epoch Partners Vendor Matrix is for informational purposes only and reflects the best efforts of Epoch's equity research team to monitor the telecommunications industry. Epoch cannot guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the data contained within.
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