Telecom conference returns
By John Duchemin
Advertiser Staff Writer
With the telecommunications industry still suffering from a two-year slowdown, the Pacific Telecommunications Council expects a small turnout for its annual conference in Honolulu next week.
The event, which runs Sunday through Thursday in Waikiki, will draw about 1,000 paying attendees from telecommunications companies worldwide, council officials say — down from 1,500 last year and 1,800 in 2001.
Council executive director Hoyt Zia said a driving theme of the conference will be surviving the industry's tough times, which have been characterized by multibillion-dollar bankruptcies and the WorldCom, Adelphia, Tyco and Global Crossing accounting scandals, and exacerbated by an overall economic slowdown.
"The lower attendance is symptomatic of what the industry has gone through for the last two years," Zia said. "We have the same people coming from the same places, but there are just fewer of them.
"So one sub-theme of the conference will be, 'Whither the telecom industry? Are things getting better, and what's the outlook?' "
Now in its 25th year in Honolulu, the annual telecommunications conference is one of the few international business meetings regularly held in Hawai'i.
Founded in 1978 and with more than 200 member companies from about 50 nations, the council regularly draws top Pacific Rim telecom executives and government regulators as keynote speakers.
The meeting offers attendees a chance to network, cut deals and learn about global trends and problems facing the industry.
This year's highlighted speakers include Irwin Jacobs, co-founder, chairman and chief executive of Qualcomm Inc.; Robert Mao, president of Nortel Networks China; and Fred Briggs, the top technology official for WorldCom.
New events this year include a panel session with venture capitalists, an international foosball tournament and a "gong show" at which companies have 10 minutes to sell the audience on their latest telecom devices.
More information on the conference is available at www.ptc.org.
Reach John Duchemin at 525-8062 or duchemin@honoluluadvertiser.com.
