15th Convergence India A Pioneering Event

The speed at which new technologies are emerging, emphasizes the need for international interaction at all levels and 15th CONVERGENCE INDIA certainly provided a forum for such communication. Convergence focuses on the blend of information, communication and technology. This event held at Pragati Maidan, India (20-22 March 2007) provided a platform for the stakeholders in business to have closer and purposive interaction and the visitors got access to a wide spectrum of technological innovations. India is pacing to be a global player. Over two years it has seen sustained growth of more than nine percent. Indian companies are buying foreign ones, there are 202.74 million telephone subscribers and 162.53 million mobile customers (until February 2007) and 33 billion dollars have been generated from IT and IteS exports. All these factors destine year 2007 towards a new dawn. And Convergence India that focused on five broad segments - telecom, mobility, broadcast, cable and satellite, IT and information security; helped to quicken this process by bringing technologists, decision makers, telecom visionaries and equipment makers on the same platform. 

The three day event was inaugurated by Abid Hussain, former ambassador of India to the US and Akhil Gupta, joint MD, Bharti Airtel. The sponsors of the occasion were ZTE, Blue Coat, Cyberoam, Ciena, France Telecom, Huawei, Motorola, Tekelec, Texas Instruments etc. The exhibition that was spread over 10000 sqms, had around 450 participants from 30 countries and 1500 delegates. It is South Asia's largest and most attended event which was bigger and better than ever before. 

At Convergence, an inaugural conference titled Convergence: the future-fuelling the Indian economy was inaugurated by Pradip Baijal, ex-chairman, TRAI. The panelists of the conference were SN Zindal, director general, STPI, SD Saxena, director (finance), BSNL, Nikhil Jain, chief technology advisor, Qualcomm, India, Brian Caskey, VP-worldwide marketing and advanced technology, UTStarcom and John Giere, CMO, Alcatel-Lucent. 

On the second day, two different sessions were held, the topics of which were almost similar. Entrepreneurs had the view that every new technology should have a strong battery backup. In one of the sessions, where Shyamal Ghosh, IAS (Retd.) was the chairperson, the issue was related to creation of mobile information society. It was felt that society must have access to communication all times. “The three A's of Access, Anytime, Anywhere are very important for a country like India” said Ghosh. The other session also focused on Security requirement and was chaired by Sivarama Krishnan, ED, PricewaterhouseCoopers. Fortinet, India and SAARC members who were a part of this session said that while more companies are going for layered security applications, the cost is also soaring. 

Big and small, Indian and foreign companies like Conax, Irdeto, Bharti Airtel, UTstarcom, NXP, AOL, Latens, ZTE, Airspan Networks Inc., Alliance Infotech, Enigma Systems, Spectra Net, ISRO, Vidyut Yantra Udyog and even Cable Quest etc were present at 'Convergence India' with the aim of flourishing their business and enhancing their brand image in India. This event facilitated many companies to reveal their future plans. The Netherlands-based Irdeto, the proven expert in content security for digital TV, IPTV and mobile networks is planning to set up its Research and Development centre in India. On the other hand, Latens, a UK based company which specializes in revenue protection and content protection for CAS systems, showcased software-based solutions for CAS players. Bharti Airtel also has plans to unveil its IPTV services this year, the trials of which are on in select parts of the country. AOL Mobile has a strategy to make mobile experience faster and easier by focusing on smaller cities in India. Mobile company, Ericsson is waiting for the launch of 3G spectrum policy in India after which it will look forward for deployment of mobile TV with the service providers. UTStarcom showcased its full array of broadband, wireless, next-generation and terminal solutions portfolio at its booth. 

Exhibitions India Pvt. Ltd. (organizer of the event) that assured 'Convergence India' to be a success and rewarding for all the participants fulfilled the expectations of all by organizing everything in a systematic, disciplined and peaceful manner.

Source: http://cablequest.org/articles/shows-or-launch-events/item/1345-15th-convergence-india-a-pioneering-event.htmlSource: http://cablequest.org/articles/shows-or-launch-events/item/1345-15th-convergence-india-a-pioneering-event.html