Feeding the food chain

18 May 2001 at 12:48 GMT Marc van Impe

Keith Larson, director Strategic Investments of Intel Capital, says he doesn't think the telecom industry has bottomed up right now. "Too many think that things will arrange themselves in the future, but they are wrong. This is wishful thinking."

"It looks that take-offs are free," says John Hull, director of the Intel Communication Fund, "but the landing will cost a lot of money."

Larson told journalists that Intel Capital is still looking for new opportunities in Europe and is not planning to scale down its investment: "We have to feed the food chain," he says.

Since the early 1990s, Intel Capital has invested over USD1.3 billion in companies headquartered outside of the United States. This encompasses investments in over 125 companies in more than 25 countries on 5 continents.

The investments include companies such as Finnish Digia Oy which develops software and value-added services, such as smartphones and wireless communicators, for 3G devices. Other investors in the developer company include Sonera.