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The week ahead: Telecom tea leaves

The telecom industry holds its main conference this week where investors, analysts and those with hope can gather to see if technology can revive the ailing industry.

6 min read
Following are some of the notable tech-related events scheduled for the week of June 3 through June 7.

The telecom industry holds its main conference this week where investors, analysts and those with hope can gather to see if technology can revive the ailing industry.

Supercomm takes place in Atlanta and features technology and/or presentations from industry stalwarts such as Juniper Networks, Lucent Technologies, Nortel Networks, Cisco Systems, Alcatel and Intel.

A dramatic falloff in spending by telecom carriers has caused much strife in the equipment industry, which hopes to grab the interest of carriers with innovative gear and technology.

Even though the flow of earnings news slows to a trickle for the upcoming week, many investors and analysts will still listen to some key events staged by tech bellwethers.

Hewlett-Packard holds its spring analyst day on Tuesday, and electronics manufacturer Flextronics International and chip giant Intel will give investors a mid-quarter financial update on Monday and Thursday, respectively.

Wall Street will also pay attention to unemployment data from the Labor Department on Friday. Analysts predict that the May unemployment rate will increase to 6.1 percent from the previous month's 6 percent.

Finally, future entrepreneurs will get the opportunity to prepare for the big leagues. Fledgling executives can learn ways to bypass venture capital firms to raise money at a Thursday panel in Silicon Valley, while others can polish their pitch skills at a Wednesday event at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The information was gathered from First Call, Hoover's Online, CCBN's StreetEvents, MSN's Moneycentral and CNET Investor.

Other events scheduled this week:

Tech Events
Sunday, June 2
  • Those interested in the fate of the beleaguered telecom industry will gather at Supercomm, which takes place at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, June 2-6. The event provides an opportunity for analysts and industry professionals to see the latest developments in telecom gear and technology. Keynote speakers include NTT DoCoMo USA Chief Executive Nobuharu Ono, Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers and Intel CEO Craig Barrett.

  • Brocade Communications Systems, a maker of switches and software for computer data storage networks, will kick off its conference at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, June 2-5. Keynote speakers include Brocade Chief Executive Greg Reyes and Capt. James Lovell, an astronaut on the Apollo 13 mission in 1970. Film and TV actor Jim Belushi will provide musical entertainment with his band Jim Belushi and the Sacred Hearts.

Monday, June 3
  • Deutsche Bank will hold its media conference at the Pierre Hotel in New York, June 3-5. Companies scheduled to present include eBay, Hughes Electronics, AOL Time Warner, Sonicblue, Sirius Satellite Radio, TiVo, TMP Worldwide and XM Satellite Radio. Keynote speakers include Wayne Pace, chief financial officer of AOL Time Warner.

  • The National Institute of Standards and Technology hosts DVD 2002 in Gaithersburg, Md., June 3-4. The event will address advancements in DVD (digital versatile disc) technology, which is used to hold movie recordings and other media.

  • Wireless technology company and chipmaker Qualcomm hosts Brew2002 at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina in San Diego, June 3-5. The event is for developers, manufacturers and telecom carriers that use or are interested in Qualcomm products. BREW (binary runtime environment for wireless) is software designed for wireless devices.

  • The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is scheduled to hear oral argument in Rambus v. Infineon Technologies on June 3 in Washington, D.C. The case is a patent-infringement suit involving computer chips.

  • Flextronics International, a contract manufacturer of electronic equipment for the telecommunications, networking, computer, consumer and medical-device industries, will conduct a conference call to give investors a mid-quarter update on its business. The call begins at 1:30 p.m. PDT on June 3.

Tuesday, June 4
  • Telecom carrier Qwest Communications International will hold its annual shareholders meeting on June 4 starting at 10:00 a.m. EDT. The event will be Webcast.

  • Hewlett-Packard will hold an analyst meeting in Boston on June 4 at 8:30 a.m. EDT. The event will be Webcast.

  • Enterprise Outlook takes place at the San Francisco Airport Marriott in Burlingame, Calif., June 4-5. The gathering features presentations by privately held companies that provide software and services for businesses. Speakers include Ram Gupta, executive vice president of products and technology at PeopleSoft.

  • The Smart Card Alliance, an industry trade group, will host an event to introduce smart card technology to identification security professionals in Washington, D.C., June 4-5.

Wednesday, June 5
  • Online auction giant eBay holds its annual shareholder's meeting on June 5, starting at 8 a.m. PDT.

  • The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property will hold a hearing titled "DRM: The Consumer Benefits of Today's Digital Rights Management Solutions" on June 5 in Washington, D.C. The event will be audio Webcast. Digital rights management is the anti-piracy technology that record labels and movie studios are testing to keep people from illegally copying and trading songs and films. Media companies wrap their content on discs in this software, which allows them to control whether someone can download or copy the content.

  • The MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge will hold a Start-up Clinic at the MIT Faculty Club in Cambridge, Mass., on June 5, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. EDT. Two start-up companies will present their business plan and receive feedback from a panel of experts and the audience.

Thursday, June 6
  • Chipmaker Intel will hold a conference call to provide a mid-quarter update on its financial performance on June 6 at 2:30 p.m. PDT. The call will be Webcast.

  • The Silicon Valley Association of Start-Up Entrepreneurs will hold a panel presentation titled "How to fund your business without VC money" on June 6 at Techmart in Santa Clara, Calif., 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. PDT. The event is for businesspeople looking for sources of money outside of venture capital firms.

Earnings

Thursday, June 6

  • National Semiconductor makes chips for PCs, telecom gear and other electronics. Per-share consensus estimate for the fourth fiscal quarter: loss of 8 cents.

Economic Reports

Monday, June 3

  • Auto and truck sales represents the number of new cars sold in the United States as compiled by the U.S. Commerce Department. No estimate was available for sales in May.

  • The Institute for Supply Management index tracks how many hard goods were bought by purchasing managers. The ISM index is expected to rise to 54.5 percent in May from 53.9 percent in April. The ISM, formerly known as the National Association of Purchasing Management, regards index values above 50 as an indication of an expanding economy, while values below 50 signify contraction.

  • Construction spending tabulates the dollar amount of newly completed building structures in a month as reported by the Commerce Department. Wall Street estimates that spending will fall 0.1 percent in April versus a 0.9 percent decrease in March.

Wednesday, June 5
  • The Non-Manufacturing ISM index tracks how many hard goods were bought monthly by purchasing managers in the services industry. Economists expect the May index to rise to 56 percent from the previous month's 55.3 percent.

Thursday, June 6
  • Initial Claims refers to the number of people who filed for unemployment benefits each week as reported by the Department of Labor. Claims will be reported for the week ending June 1.

Friday, June 7
  • Unemployment rate is the percentage of unemployed adults, as estimated monthly by the Labor Department. Economists expect unemployment to be 6.1 percent in May, up from 6 percent in April.

  • The Labor Department also releases data on Nonfarm Payrolls, which represents the change in the number of workers in non-farm jobs. This number is expected to rise by 70,000 in May compared to April's increase of 43,000.

  • The Labor Department follows the monthly percentage change in Hourly Earnings in the private sector. Wall Street expects earnings to increase 0.3 percent for May, up from April's 0.1 percent increase.

  • Average workweek for March is the average amount of hours worked per week in the private sector, as estimated monthly by the Labor Department. Economists expect hours worked to tick up to 34.2 in May from 34.1 hours in April.

  • Wholesale Inventories represents the percentage change in the amount of goods in wholesale inventories in the United States. This number is expected to climb 0.1 percent for the month of April from no change in March.

  • The Consumer Credit report by the Federal Reserve shows the monthly debt assumed by consumers for purposes other than home mortgages. Wall Street believes April debt will increase to $6 billion from $4.6 billion in March.