Is it 'time for prudent optimism'?

Nokia has hit its targets. SonyEricsson has reported its first ever profit. IBM - despite having shed staff - will also need to hire 10,000 new recruits. European next-gen network operator Interoute - part of a sector that has seen plenty of players bloodied and bowed - has today said it will increase its field operations across the continent 30 per cent by the end of the year.

Are we saying the recovery in tech has definitely begun?

Users of information and communications technologies have generally been reporting a slight upturn in their fortunes this year. But it really depends on which sector you listen to. Some never even experienced much of a downturn.

Sectors that are directly related to tech are also a mixed bag. Areas such as PR and media have taken such heavy blows that maybe the only way is up, though component suppliers, recruiters and numerous others are more of a mixed bag.

What do those at the heart of tech think, at companies such as those above? At the ITU Telecom World 2003 show in Geneva, silicon.com has been taking the pulse of the industry, as it were, from big company to small, vendor to regulator and politico. While many companies are in financial reporting quiet periods, meaning general statements about their specific progress are a no-no, there were those who stuck their necks out.

Bert Whyte, CEO of network equipment company Net.com, said: "We've hit the bottom and there's more opportunity. But I wouldn't say [the recovery] has really happened yet. Maybe it will be more by 2005 than 2004."

Cable and Wireless' Duncan Black, director of the network operator's corporate solutions strategy, said: "I would say we're in a period of stability. Recovery might be stretching it too far."

However, there are those who clearly see recovery being led by certain sectors. Shai Guday, group programme manager, Microsoft Wireless and Mobility, said: "Wireless LAN has been one area of substantive growth. I wouldn't project wider [than that] but the WLAN market is rich and vibrant."

And couldn't it be that wireless, like other notable areas increasing productivity in user organisations such as outsourcing and web services, is leading the rest of the industry?

Jeff Brown, CEO of local wireless cell provider RadioFrame, said: "I'm cautiously optimistic right now. Wireless operators seem to be doing a lot better and some equipment providers are showing signs of life."

Perhaps someone with a broad overview of the industry should have the last word. Few Europeans have a closer association with ICT than European Commissioner Erkki Liikanen.

"Since spring this year there have been signs of a turn," he said during a keynote earlier this week, citing broadband as driving demand in other areas.

"It is time for prudent optimism."