Denny, thank you for your excellent insight.

This statement of yours struck me:

"In the old days it was the cost per minute that killed the trade but with the optic fiber and wireless revolutions the cost of transmission has fallen to near zero. The cost is now mostly in the device..."

When the cost of using the phone was high, people used their phones less. Now, a family of 4 may buy 4 phones...but the kids may literally be on the phone every single minute that they are not asleep or under the direct eye of their teacher.

As an entire generation uses their mobile phones as easily as they breathe, maybe the investment focus should be on the telecom companies.

The phone providers are highly competitive and their moat is narrow. The telecom companies are few and powerful and their moat is wider because of the high infrastructure investment. (Please correct me if I'm wrong -- I'm not really up on the latest laws that force the big telecoms to allow smaller competitors to use their networks.)

Aside from T and VZ, which are both low-beta dividend payers (i.e. may favorite type of company), which would you recommend? I am also interested in international players, since Asia, Africa and South America will never be hard-wired with land lines -- they will be all wireless.

Wendy