Lagging ITU Telecom World Bookings Prompt Makeover
GENEVA -- The ITU is lowering expectations for Telecom World 2009 and recasting the event as a top political, telecom and information technology forum to meet pressing challenges and opportunities. Bookings for exhibitors and others are about one-third of forecasts, officials said. The organization is looking for new ways to make up for the shortfall, said Sanjay Acharya, ITU chief of media relations. One idea to cope with smaller budgets is for countries to pool resources and participation, officials said.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
ITU Telecom World is being recast as a forum for top business leaders, international political leaders, intellectuals and journalists to discuss the pressing challenges and opportunities for telecom and information technology. The ITU Telecom board agreed Feb. 18 to recast this year’s event toward stemming the effects of the financial crisis. The board also agreed to hold ITU Telecom World in 2011 for the event’s 40th anniversary. The Geneva convention center will start this year in promoting the 2011 event, said Robert Hensler, the Geneva State Chancellor.
Around 30 or 40 countries likely will have national pavilions for this year’s event, said Houlin Zhao, ITU’s deputy secretary-general. The Chinese, Indian and Spanish will have very big national pavilions, Zhao said. Huawei, ZTE and Chinese mobile operators will have pavilions, Zhao said. Japanese and South Korean industry also will have a heavy presence, Zhao said.
Russia is considering expanding its request for floor space from 4,300 to 6,400 square feet, but hasn’t signed a contract, Zhao said. France, Belgium, the U.K., South Korea and Japan will have pavilions. Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Ukraine, Belarus and Azerbaijan also will have national pavilions. Argentina is the only South American country to commit to a pavilion, Zhao said. Indonesia, Canada, Germany, Mexico and others are considering.
Qualcomm, Nokia, Cisco and Microsoft reserved space, Zhao said, but Microsoft has scaled back plans. AT&T hasn’t confirmed. NEC is coordinating with the Japanese government to participate in that country’s pavilion. Organizers are considering “an operators corridor” for companies that want to participate with a reduced footprint, Zhao said.
U.S. industry will attend, Zhao said. A recently conceived “green pavilion” is a bid to attract more U.S. government and industry interest, Zhao said. Themes for other pavilions include e-health and e-climate, which may be combined with the green pavilion, he said. The 2009 Telecom World is the first time the ITU has invited other UN agencies to get involved, Zhao said, citing the World Meteorological Organization and the World Health Organization. Pacific island ministers expressed interest in a regional pavilion, Zhao said.
About 100 invitations have been sent to heads of governments, said Hamadoun Toure, ITU’s secretary-general. “A number” of political leaders including from the Group of Eight said they'll attend, said Toure. He couldn’t cite any names because of security concerns. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will attend.
Industry exhibition has historically been the main part of Telecom World. With a smaller exhibition, expectations are focusing on the forum, which was in the past was used for speeches. That model will change, Zhao said. Industry officials said they pay a lot of money to participate in the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, which deals very broadly with the global economy, Zhao said. “They want to have their own place,” where telecom and technology are the focal point, Zhao said.
Raising the profile of technology trade issues is simpler when dealing only with high-ranking leaders, said Hensler. Heads of state, ministers and other high-ranking diplomats at a telecom conference could raise political pressure with counterparts dealing with trade matters. Multilateral negotiations on a range of telecom and technology issues are stalled in the eight-year-old Doha Round of talks in the World Trade Organization. Technology and telecom issues are hostage to progress in very complex and wide-ranging negotiations in agriculture trade, chemicals, fishing subsidies and many other areas. Robust negotiations in the Doha round aren’t expected until autumn at the earliest.
Languishing in the WTO talks are European and U.S. proposals for defining relevant international standards and standard-setting bodies for the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade in certain telecom, audio-visual, computer and other electronic goods, said a draft negotiating text. Proposals also suggest treatment at the multilateral level of manufacturers’ declaration of conformity with applicable national technical regulations and safety standards including electromagnetic compatibility, the draft text said.
A joint proposal by the U.S., Japan, South Korea and others aims to reduce import tariffs for a variety of telecom, broadcast, computer and other electronic gear. Another trade aim is to increase the number of countries signed up to the WTO Information Technology Agreement and expanding the number of products covered for tariff free treatment. A customs duty moratorium for electronic transmissions will expire or have to be renewed at the next WTO ministerial conference. Confirmation hearings for Ron Kirk as the U.S. Trade Representative were delayed until possibly next week.
The aim of ITU Telecom World 2011 and beyond is to be the most important meeting of political and economic leaders on telecom, Hensler said. No problems have so far been reported in hotel availability or booking for the 2009 event, which is Oct. 5 to 9, Hensler said.