The FCC has also considered using Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which is less stringent in its language and enforces the regulator's powers to "promote competition" and "remove barriers" to investment.
MR. MOBIUS is less enthusiastic about telecommunications companies, saying he owns "a little bit" of TPSA and Matav, but no more because he finds the valuations "not that appealing".
But investors, who have turned extremely sour on the telecommunications market, were less impressed.
Toshiba, which concentrates more on chips for consumer-related products, said it expected an upturn this year; Fujitsu, which relies more heavily on the telecommunications industry, was less optimistic.
Fluctuations in the Topix, which is less heavily concentrated in technology, media and telecommunications stocks than the Nikkei, probably have a bigger impact on Japan's struggling banks.
Intelligence officials also told reporters Thursday that they were worried that telecommunications companies would be less willing to cooperate in future wiretapping unless they were given immunity.
Firecrest is, according to the FCO's ICT strategy 2011-2015, "generally providing a reliable service to users across the network", although "somewhat flaky in posts with telecommunications connections that are less than robust".
Drenker, at EPRI, thinks the ability to haul telecommunications traffic may ultimately be less important for most utilities than consolidating their grip on the local customer.
Juan Zarate, a White House and Treasury official under President George W. Bush, said that unlike telecommunications information, there has generally been less sensitivity about the collection of financial data, in part because the government already collects information on large transactions under the Bank Secrecy Act.
Telecommunications is one of them.
