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IPTV and Mobile TV emerged as the major highlights of the 16th Convergence India event. The exhibition also put emphasis on the role of fixed mobile convergence in integration of landline and wireless technologies, to create a single telecommunication network foundation in India
The 16th Convergence India event held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi was
received well by the entire community of technology providers, service providers
(SPs), telecom equipment makers, content developers and others in the industry.
The international exhibition organized by the Exhibitions India Group and
supported by Departments of Telecommunication (DoT) and the Department of
Information Technology, saw participation from over 500 exhibitors, who
showcased products and technologies revolving around broadband and wireless
access, VoIP, 3G, multimedia broadband, mobile phones and related accessories,
conditional access technologies, IPTV and DTH, among others.
At a time when the major drivers of telecom services, including large
enterprises, banks, BPOs, all are looking to expand their operations,
Convergence India was a perfect platform for the companies to establish
contacts, share views and ideas, showcase products and technologies and above
all, maximize business opportunities to penetrate deeper into the booming
wireless market in India. Amongst a host of companies present during the event,
the major ones included MTNL, Motorola, Nokia Siemens Networks, IBM, Ericsson,
RailTel etc.
Highlights
The event that was held for three consecutive days from March 19-21, 2008
covered every aspect of the emerging information and communication technology
industry. However, the major highlight of the event was IPTV, a TV service that
is delivered using IP technology and mobile TV-a service that enables
subscribers to watch TV content on their phone or PDAs.
Several companies including Netherlands-based Proxim Wireless, India-based
Time Broadband Services, France-based Viaccess that sells software-based
solutions for IPTV agreed that India is a huge market for IPTV and the future is
bright for them as well as SPs looking to offer a range of benefits to their
subscribers.
“The past years have seen an increased demand for data services. We are also
seeing first time IPTV deployments in India,” noted Dr Kumar N Sivranjan, CTO,
Tejas Networks. Tejas showcased their solutions based on networks carrier
Ethernet that can help the SPs to scale their networks from a few hundred Mbps
to tons of Gbps. The above solution also helps in building a platform from
which, newer services like IPTV, video-on-demand and VoIP can be delivered
easily.
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| For many foreign companies
looking to expand their base in India, the event was a perfect opportunity
to understand the demands of local customers |
“The momentum on broadband has started already and IPTV will catch up in
couple of years,” opined R Murugesan, Country Sales Manager-India and SAARC,
Tyco Electronics.
In addition, the other highlights of the event included pavilions set-up by
countries including China, Korea, Taiwan, and USA. The pavilions displayed the
latest technologies in broadband and wireless access, VoIP, optical access
networking, 3G, m-commerce, multimedia broadband services via satellite and ASP,
mobile phone accessories, conditional access technologies, satellite receivers
and transmitters, set top boxes, conditional access systems, DTH technologies,
encoders, decoders, IPTV, VoD, etc.
The exhibition also put emphasis on the role of fixed mobile convergence
(FMC) in integration of landline and wireless technologies, to create a single
telecommunication network foundation in India.
Mixed responses
As compared to the last three years, 2008 Convergence registered an increase
in the number of exhibitors it received mixed response from the visitors. While
for some of the companies, it proved to be a great opportunity to showcase their
products, others who have been regular participants at the event noted that it
was not as huge a success as it was in 2007.
Artek Enterprises, a Delhi-based company that had also participated in the
event last year stated that they had taken up two stalls as opposed to one the
previous year, but the response did not match their expectations. “The response
has been less in comparison to last year, and we have not been able to figure
out the exact reasons for the same,” mentioned Anubhav Gupta, Management
Executive, Artek Enterprises.
Rajesh Sharma, Business Development Manager-North, Netgear noted that
response had been dull as compared to the previous year. But Murugesan of Tyco
too noted that except for the delay in starting the program, all other aspects
of the program were good. “We could meet up with few of our business partners
and that has helped us strengthen our business relationship,” said Murugesan
Convergence
However, for many foreign companies looking to expand their base in India,
the event was a perfect opportunity to understand the demands of local
customers, as they were busy explaining about their technology and cost
advantages.
China-based Maipu Communication Technology displayed its range of products
including switches, voice gateway and routers during the event and was happy to
receive a number of enquiries. It may be noted that the company has been doing
business in India for the last five to six years, and has opened a sales office
in Delhi recently.
Jack Wang Jun, VP, Maipu Communication Technology stated, “The customers in
India are very active and we have received good response from many of them. The
future looks prosperous for us and we are hoping to be amongst the top three
router and solution providers in India. We are looking for channel partners in
India, who can drive our business and help us realize our goals.”
Presenting a holistic view
Other noted feature of the event were the seminars and presentations that
delved deeper into the numerous aspects of the telecom industry. Eminent
speakers spanning from across the industry shared their views on topics like
next-generation networks, creating the business of infotainment, mobile
convergence, business drivers and solutions in telecom services and
applications, information theft, etc.
Pooja Sharma
poojas@cybermedia.co.in Page(s) 1
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