TORONTO – Look for some day two fireworks at the 2005 Canadian Telecom Summit.
The 11 a.m. session on May 31st, day two of what looks to be a great three days, is entitled “The Regulatory Blockbuster”, which most will identify as last week’s VOIP ruling from the CRTC. The session’s panelists are scheduled to be Lawson Hunter, executive vice-president, BCE Inc.; Janet Yale, EVP corporate affairs, Telus; Jean Brazeau, senior v-p regulatory, Sprint Canada; Ken Englehart, v-p regulatory, Rogers Communications; Chris Peirce, senior v-p regulatory, MTS-Allstream; and Michael Hennessy, president, Canadian Cable Telecommunications Association.
Given the hundreds of words spoken on the issue last week at the release in Ottawa and afterwards, this should be a pretty interesting session since the parties will have had more than two weeks to really refine their thinking on the decision and what actions they are taking or plan to take.
There are just two weeks remaining to register for Summit – May 30 to June 1 at the Toronto Congress Centre.
Delegates will join 500 of the most influential stakeholders in discussions of the future of telecommunications in Canada. Now in its fourth year, the 2005 Canadian Telecom Summit offers a wide range of topics being reviewed strategically by the senior leaders of the industry.
With 17 keynote speakers and more than 50 panel members, The 2005 Summit will look at telecommunications from all angles: wireless and wireline, voice and data, business and consumer services; and look closely at Voice over IP and the key enabling technologies that still need to be deployed as carriers begin to launch VOIP services for the masses.
Canadian industry leaders Michael Sabia (CEO of BCE), Darren Entwistle (CEO of Telus), Bill Linton (CEO of Call-Net/Sprint Canada), Nadir Mohammed (CEO of Rogers Wireless), and John MacDonald (Allstream) will provide their views during keynote addresses while panels of business unit heads and company presidents look at business services, residential services, and next generation networks. On Monday, special breakout sessions will look at VoIP and wireless services in greater depth with experts from around the world.
Global leaders such as Michael Capellas of MCI, Don Peterson of Avaya, Bill Owens of Nortel, Andy Mattes of Siemens, Hubert de Pesquidoux of Alcatel and Carlos Dominguez of Cisco will bring their perspectives on trends affecting the world of telecom.
The heads of Rogers Wireless, Bell Mobility, Ericsson and palmOne will also reflect on 20 years of mobile wireless services in Canada (Rogers Cantel was the first) and look to the future. A special session will examine issues surrounding the implementation of wireless number portability. Other sessions will look at emerging wireless applications and wireless infrastructure.
The CRTC has just issued its decision on regulation of Voice over IP. The Canadian Telecom Summit is hosting a panel of experts from all of the major carriers as well as the cable industry to discuss this and other regulatory issues. The decision will be just weeks old by then. Prior to that panel on Tuesday May 31, delegates will hear from Vonage CEO Jeffrey Citron. The closing address on Wednesday June 1 will be from CRTC Chair Charles Dalfen.
All participants are invited to join the annual cocktail reception sponsored this year by Microsoft Canada, following Tuesday’s closing keynote address by David Hemler, president of Microsoft Canada.
To register, click on www.telecomsummit.com.
