Fisher Investments on Telecom

Chapter 1

TELECOM BASICS

How we communicate today is largely a direct result of the transformation of the Telecommunication Services (i.e., “Telecom”) industry. Drums, smoke signals, semaphores, and carrier pigeons are out. Mobile phones, e-mails, and tweets are in. Today, even remote campsites have wireless Internet connections. In developing countries, many people without electricity and running water in their homes still have cell phones! This dramatic increase in access to information has changed the way we live, to say the least. Thanks to modern telecommunications, we now know what is going on globally in real time. So much information can be overwhelming, however, especially when it comes to investing in the stock market. What is noise and what is actually important?

The purpose of this guide is to create a structure and process for investing in the Telecom sector. Also, note this is an investment guide to Telecom, not a technical guide. We’re not going to scrutinize the differences between CDMA2000 and CDMA2000 1xEV-DO. Instead, you will learn what questions to ask and the critical thinking required to understand what makes Telecom likely to perform better or worse than the overall market in the period ahead—over the next 12, 18, or 24 months at the outset. By learning the process for forming a forward-looking opinion, you’ll also learn to pick what types of Telecom stocks are likely to be best for the prevailing economic conditions, political environment, and market sentiment. ...