Are Carrier Backbones/Access Prepared?

With the spending squeeze we saw in carrier markets in 2009, it makes one wonder.  Are carrier networks prepared for 2010?  There are a number of reasons to think there might be a bandwidth shortage in some network areas rather than a bandwidth glut:

1. Leichtman Research Group recently stated that by the end of 2009, 46% or U.S. households will have at least one HDTV.
2. AT&T's unexplained halt in NY iPhone sales.  Was it a problem providing enough bandwith for these handy and bandwidth hungry devices?
3. Increasing FTTH installations and higher FTTH service uptake.
4. The video explosion - HDTV is just one piece.  YouTube, video conferencing (especially with the lastest airplane/terrorist incident), and emerging video-enabled applications are fast overtaking every other type of network traffic.  Cisco, in their Visual Networking Index, projects that:  By 2013, the sum of all forms of video (TV, VoD, Internet Video, and P2P) will exceed 90 percent of global consumer traffic.

The upshot of all of this, is that carriers need to start spending soon.  And that's good news for makers of equipment for carriers in 2010.