Telecom carriers from around the world came to Silicon Valley recently to talk to innovators. The occasion was TC3 2010, the third annual Telecom Council Carrier Connection get-together, put on by the Telecom Council of Silicon Valley. The purpose of the event was to let carriers tell innovators in the valley the kind of innovation they're looking for, and make contact with entrepreneurs they can work with. The big question is how serious the carriers are about pursuing the opportunities that innovators present. And the key to answering the question is understanding how desperate the carriers are. Carriers presenting at the event ranged from dominant telcos to competitive mobile carriers. They included AT&T, Bouygues Telecom, BT, NTT DoCoMo, SingTel, SK Telecom, Sprint and Swisscom. Even the major wireline carriers focused heavily on wireless businesses.