Y2K Telecom Alert had brief life.

"Follow-Up" reports on the status of newsletters founded about two years ago, which is the critical time frame for success or failure since the publisher has gone through two renewal cycles.

It didn't survive for long, but while it did it served the purpose for which it was launched, according to its editor, Victoria Mason, of the defunct Y2K Telecom Alert, of Washington, D.C.

But Mason was reluctant to tell NL/NL any specific details about the newsletter except to say, "We provided telecom companies with the information they needed in litigation.

"I'm not at liberty to talk about the internal operations of our newsletters," she added.

Y2K Telecom Alert was launched in 1998 by Telecommunications Reports Inc., and it then suspended publication in 1999. Mason said the newsletter had not been spun off into another one after its purpose had been served.

When it was launched its findings were sober enough to motivate many a telecom executive to subscribe at the annual rate of $375 for 23 issues.

One the Alert's initial findings was this: "The FCC so far has 17 of its 30 'mission critical' systems Y2K compliant. It expects to have all but three systems ready by the President Clinton's March 31, 1999 deadline for the federal government, compliance.

"It still has to replace 11 mission-critical systems and to repair two systems."

It turned out, however, that there were few problems involving Y2K. The 21st Century arrived without major interruptions of computer systems.

The thrust behind the newsletter was to provide practical guidance on legislation, litigation, liability; arbitration, SEC disclosure guidelines, FCC administrative regulations and policies, and equipment manufacturers who had Y2K compliant products.

Using a classic promotional tool-fear--the publication was aimed at telecom companies "to give you a better understanding of your vulnerability... and what you can do about it."

The lesson here may be that there is a market for a rifle-aimed newsletter that exists briefly for a special purpose, and then when its purpose ends you kill it.

Newsletters with a built-in, limited life span have a long, if modest, tradition in the industry. NL/NL editor Paul Swift was introduced to newsletters, while in graduate school, as associate editor of USA 200: The American Bicentennial Newsletter. It was launched in 1971 and ceased publication right on schedule, July 4, 1976.

In the early 1980s, when AT&T was ordered to break up, Capitol Publications launched The Report on AT&T.

When the Gulf War ended in 1991, Pasha Publications launched Gulf Reconstruction Report, aimed at public officials, contractors and exporters involved in "the massive $100 billion-$500 billion effort to rebuild Kuwait and Iraq--the largest public works program in history."

Having served their limited-time purpose, these newsletters are no longer being published.