"We still don't have high-speed Internet access, we don't have cable modems, we don't have all these things we hear and read about," said Katrin Lemter, a telecommunications industry analyst at Bank Hapaolim in Tel Aviv.
The industry is buzzing this week about these devices at a telecommunications conference in Las Vegas, and consumers will see the first machines on shelves as early as June, probably from the netbook pioneers Acer and Asustek.
Instead of heralding AT&T, FORBES ASIA should raise concerns about the reestablishment of a telecommunications monopoly that will stifle the Internet, reduce innovation and raise prices for businesses and consumers.
"E-commerce and B2B virtually don't exist in Russia, totaling about $30 million annually," said Andrei Braginski, a telecommunications analyst at Renaissance Capital, an investment bank in Moscow.
Correction: December 19, 2000, Tuesday A brief report in Business Day on Friday about the proposed acquisition of a telecommunications company, Intermedia Communications, by WorldCom referred imprecisely to a judge's comments when he refused to block the deal.
There seemed little to cheer about in telecommunications, either: phone directory publisher Yell Group warned of a difficult trading environment in Britain and revised its full-year sales guidance downward on Thursday.
Kroll then told a story about an American telecommunications company that was being extorted by Turkish hackers in Germany.
The proposal "starts a very interesting dialogue about a number of telecommunications issues in a very concrete manner," he said.
U.S. political opposition to limitations on civil liberties in the name of counter-terrorism has intensified, following revelations about a White House-authorized domestic telecommunications surveillance program, although the recent terrorism scare may temporarily undermine opponents.
