The CLEC industry continued its transformation during 2000. This year’s transformation claimed a few victims and was busy with mergers and acquisitions. Despite the general negative impression among some investors, the CLEC industry continued to grow in terms of revenue, access lines, and equipment deployment. Total revenues have increased 34% from 1999 to 2000, and CLECs now serve over 16 million access lines.

The year 2000 was undoubtedly one during which the CLEC industry experienced some losses. As with any rapidly developing industry, this is to be expected; however, a corrective period does not doom the sector. Quite the contrary. The CLEC business is about competition and competition is a survival of the fittest. It is our belief that the individ ual failures of a select number of CLECs will ultimately lead to a stronger, more robust and increasingly innovative industry.