JDSU, an optical component and test equipment company that once commanded a megabillion-dollar market capitalization (which earned them a place in my book, “Broadbandits”), has fallen on hard times. Despite growing demand for bandwidth and connectivity, JDSU, like many of its peers, has been skating on thin ice. A sharp downturn in demand from the communications sector saw the company miss its second-quarter fiscal 2009 revenue target by six percent; it reported sales of $357 million vs. consensus estimates of $372 million. The company is going to see even further shrinkage, saying it expects revenue for the quarter ending March 28, 2009 to range from $275-$300 million. In order to survive, JDSU needs to make some drastic moves. It’s palming off a factory in China to contract manufacturer Sanmina-SCI. In doing so, JDSU get to slash 2,200 jobs, about a third of its entire employee base, according to RBC Capital Markets’ Mark Sue. About 2,000 of those folks are going to be now working for Sanmina-SCI, doing precisely what they were doing except will not be paid by JDSU. “Another 150 employees  will remain JDSU employees and will focus on corporate functions and product development in the region. Sanmina-SCI will use the same equipment, the same lines, the same people and the same processes as when the fab was under JDSU ownership to support JDSU customers,” a company spokesperson tells us.

Its been almost eleven years when the Telecom Act of 1996 was announced with much fanfare. It promised a telecom revolution, and instead it got a Bubble, Broadbandits and a battle of the lobbyists. And as they years passed, incumbents neutered it beyond recognition, leaving it toothless and lifeless, much like the royal family of a fallen colonial power. Sure there were some things that microscopically-tilted in favor of the small, independent carriers, but even those are at risk now. Continue »