"They were having trouble dealing with cost escalation and government cutbacks, so they decided to consolidate out of anxiety.
"Those that have moved forward have suffered substantial cost escalation and several have received negative financial reviews.
To meet this demand, operators must install twice as many nodes per square mile.The cost escalation does not stop there.
Last week the National Audit Office published a rexport that found there had been significant delay and cost escalation to 12 of the 14 large projects at Sellafield.
The new presidential administration could begin by accounting for cost increases more honestly, using the initial basis on which missions are started, rather than today's practice of neglecting certain kinds of cost escalation.
While the district built in a cost escalation factor, officials discovered it was not enough and, as a result, the district has re-estimated the cost of the $32 million project at the high school.
In order to afford these new investments, and in response to cost escalation in long-running programmes, the government has announced some savings in frontline forces, most notably the decision to reduce the planned purchase of type-26 frigates.
In Johannesburg, the cost escalation for the construction of the "African Calabash" to $350 million has meant a radical cutback in capital expenditure in a city that is falling apart.
It is easy to state the necessary procedures: a thorough feasibility assessment and cost investigation before a project is approved, a refusal to allow later gold-plating beyond approved costs, and a robust procedure of stage reviews to check on cost escalation and decide on cutbacks or cancellation.
"As the president's pay goes up, it raises what you pay the provosts, the deans, and so on, and that cost escalation, at a time of recession when we're going to have to raise tuition anyway, sends a pretty insensitive message," Mr. Callan said.
