EXECUTIVEFORUM MATTHEW B. MILSTEAD Mr. Milstead has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of New World Network since April 2002. He had previously served as Chief Operating Officer since joining the company in September 2001. Prior to joining New World Network, Mr. Milstead was President of the Latin America division of 360networks. In this position, he was responsible for all of 360networks’ sales, marketing, network development and operations in Latin America. Previously he was General Manager of Eastern Operations, which focused primarily on the initial business and network development of 360atlantic and 360americas’s undersea and terrestrial network connecting the United States to Europe and Latin America. Before joining 360networks, Mr. Milstead was Senior Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of Lightwave Spectrum International. Mr. Milstead holds an engineering degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and a master’s degree in management from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Q
Are business conditions improving or getting worse, and are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future?
A
Conditions in the telecommunications industry for our region seem to have started to stabilize a bit as we close out the most successful year in the company’s history. In spite of the deteriorating economic situation in some of Latin America’s most important markets, we remain pretty optimistic about the medium-term uptake of connectivity. An important factor to any sustained growth however, is the deployment of access technologies and their supporting infrastructure in order to enable broadband users the connectivity they are demanding.
Q
What do you see as the short term and long term health of the international telecoms industry?
A
Even though we are starting to see improvements, the short term is still going to be very challenging. Careful management of service portfolios and cost centers is key. The majority of international connectivity thus far has been dedicated to voice services, we expect Internet traffic to exhibit the fastest growth rates through 2008, thereby
becoming the most important contributor to international capacity requirements. We do need to see that increase in investment by local carriers in their infrastructure and services which will result in greater demand in the regions and subsequent international connectivity.
Q
Who do you see as your customers, and how do their past requirements compare to those in the future?
A
Our primary customers are the Global carriers, Regional service providers, ISPs, and value added service providers focusing on operations in our region. Although 2003 was a very strong year for us in terms of capacity sales, projections from independent market studies and our customers themselves are for continued sustained growth over the next 3 to 5 years.
Q
From your perspective, what is the state of the market, and how will your company cope with the change?
A
The Latin American telecommunications industry has gone through an unstable period with restructurings and consolidations of operators at all levels. Although I think there is still more to 9