Six companies (Ciena, Sprint, Sycamore, Juniper, Qwest, Cisco) were awarded four contracts worth at least $400 million by the United States government to build a global network with optical and data networking gear.

When the United States telecommunications industry imploded a few years ago, with upstart carriers disappearing by the dozens and investments vanishing by the billions, it looked as if the regional Bell companies had won the telecom wars.

But it is clear now that the Bells merely survived the first wave of what may be decades of difficulties.

The local communications game itself is changing -- and not in the Bells' favor.

Every few years, one or more of the Bell companies strikes a marketing deal with a big satellite-television provider.

Now, Verizon and SBC are trying satellite ventures again.

A Public Debate on Telecommunications Policy, entitled "Competing Visions for an Evolving Telecom Market", featuring:

US Senator Sam Brownback, Chair, Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology & Space, with keynote remarks and introductions;

Marilyn Showalter, Chair of Washington State Utilities Commission, Seattle, WA; First Vice Pres. of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners;

Thomas Hazlett, Senior Fellow, Center for a Digital Economy, Manhattan Institute, Washington, DC; Former FCC Chief Economist.

Few people have ever lost their shirts betting on the weather. Investors who believed in Mr. Gilder's wildly optimistic predictions about the telecommunications revolution, on the other hand, spent the last few years watching their portfolios unravel.

Now, slowly but surely, portions of the telecom industry are recovering, and Mr. Gilder is gradually regaining the credibility that nearly vaporized before his eyes three years ago.

There is much dismay and even despair over the slow pace at which broadband is advancing in the United States. This slow pace is often claimed to be fatally retarding the recovery of the entire IT industry. As a result there are increasing calls for government action, through regulation or even through outright subsidies.

A careful examination shows that broadband is full of puzzles and paradoxes, which suggests caution before taking any drastic action. As one simple example, the basic meaning of broadband is almost universally misunderstood, since by the official definition, we all have broadband courtesy of the postal system. Also, broadband penetration, while generally regarded as disappointingly slow, is actually extremely fast by most standards, faster than cell phone diffusion at a comparable stage. Furthermore, many of the policies proposed for advancing broadband are likely to have perverse effects. There are many opportunities for narrowband services that are not being exploited, some of which might speed up broadband adoption.

... we urge the FCC to:

* Resist at all costs the telephone industry's calls for bailouts. The policy should be one of "fast failure."

* Acknowledge that non-Internet communications equipment ... is economically obsolete ...

* Discourage attempts by incumbent telephone companies to thwart [asset-based telecom].

Laura and Ken Jewell have entered the Lucent afterlife.