Introduction

9th Convergence India, the three-day multi-sector event was an outstanding opportunity for companies and entrepreneurs to interact, network and promote research and development of newer technologies in the converging broadcast, cable, satellite, IT, communications and networking sectors. It was essentially to create a platform for business-to-business activity to take place both in the technology as well as commercial areas.

The international exhibition and conference was inaugurated by Mr R.R.N. Prasad, Member, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. "The real bottleneck to the success of broadband as a road to convergence lies in the capability of a service provider to replace the existing copper last mile with fibre-to-home (FTH), digital subscriber line (DSL), asynchronous DSL (ADSL) and hybrid co-axial cable (HFC)," Mr Prasad said, inaugurating the exhibition & conference.

Also speaking on the occasion, Mr R.N. Goyal, Member (Production), Telecom Commission said players in the broadband convergence arena should develop a strong research and development (R&D) base, which will keep them in touch with the latest cutting-edge technologies. He stressed on the need for companies to build manufacturing bases for making next generation products.

The organizers hosted an Industry Reception at the Le' Meridian Hotel on 21st March 2001. The reception was an important meeting place for interaction between the exhibitors, industry players, members of the press and the organizers.

Exhibition

207 companies exhibited their products at Convergence India 2001 exhibition, which is the largest show of its kind in India. The exhibition was an excellent opportunity for participants

* to make contacts,
* showcase technologies,
* identify initiatives and
* for future collaborations and partnerships.

The major thrust of the exhibition was to foster the commercialization of new and emerging technologies by creating partnerships or strategic alliances.

Exhibitors were satisfied by the visitor response, which included delegates and decision-makers from ministries, governmental agencies, entrepreneurs, R&D personnel from industry, educational institutions and academia etc.

Conference

The 9th Convergence India 2001 conference held concurrent to the exhibition concluded on a successful note. It comprised two separate tracks that were held simultaneously. The invaluable presentations and the expertise of the high profile speakers created a pro-active and educational forum of discussion and debate.

It all started on the 20th of March 2001. The inaugural conference was held at Le Meridien Hotel on the eve of the show. The whole show got off to a lively start with the expert panel running into a controversy over whether e-volution or re-volution was should be the path to the immense opportunities that the convergence in technologies offered even in a developing country like India.

Shri MS Verma, Chaiman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, was the chairperson for the inaugural conference. The other distinguished panelists included Mr Bill Cowper, Director-Asia Pacific, Sun Microsystems, USA; Shri Shekhar Das Gupta, Country Manager, Oracle India; Shri Kiran Karnik, Managing Director, Discovery Channel, India; Shri Atul Kunwar, CEO Bharti BT, India; Shri Rahul Swarup, CTO, Satyam Infoway, India and Mr Doug Triblehorn, CEO, Globecast, France.