Remember the CLECs? They were the fancy new phone companies that were going to take on the Bell incumbents. New technology, lower prices, better service, and local, long distance and data all on one bill--the Bells didn't stand a chance. The future of telecommunications services for businesses belonged to Allegiance, Time Warner Telecom, WinStar, XO and their CLEC brethren.

This is perhaps the most clued and accurate representation of what happened and what is happening. However, they miss the salient point that telecom services are a rapidly falling commodity still, and it will be difficult to find high margin customers as we move forward.

The changing tide of CLECs