usta unveils new trade show for 2006

Called TelecomNEXT, the new trade show is set for March 19-23, in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay.

The new show will replace both USTA’s three-year-old annual fall TELECOM trade show and its participation in SUPERCOMM, an expo it jointly owned with TIA. USTA announced last year that it would discontinue its partnership with TIA to produce SUPERCOMM. TIA plans to hold its own event, GlobalComm, June 5-8 in Chicago.

USTA will participate in the final SUPERCOMM 2005 trade show June 6-9 in Chicago and says it will hold its final TELECOM ’05 event Oct. 23-27 in Las Vegas.

McCormick told reporters on a conference call that TelecomNEXT seeks to replicate a viable integrated marketplace and will be the only annual forum to reflect the new marketplace of cross-platform competition. He says the last thing the industry needs is another traditional telecom trade show.

As evidence of support for the new formula, he reported the expo hall, which expects to hold 300 exhibitors, is 45 percent sold. He also said several keynote speakers already have been confirmed, including representatives from media companies, cable companies, mobile operators and its traditional wireline base. Among them are Jonathan Glickman, president of Spyglass Entertainment Group; Moshe Lichtman, corporate vice president of Microsoft TV Division; Jim Robbins, president and CEO of Cox Communications Inc.; and Stan Sigman, president and CEO of Cingular Wireless.

McCormick says TelecomNEXT also has the support of the telecom service provider community, which represents $36 billion in annual capex.

McCormick skirted questions about how the telco lobbying organization expects to attract attendees and exhibitors from cable, broadcast, wireless and IP industries that presently support their own industry-specific shows. “Stay tuned,” he said.

Separately, ATIS, the telecom industry’s technical planning and standards development organization, announced it will produce a comprehensive technology conference for TelecomNEXT.

Correction

LAST MONTH’S xchange EDITOR’S letter failed to mention that in addition to the United States Telecom Association’s expanded show in 2006 (described in the story above), USTA will hold its final TELECOM ’05 event Oct. 23-27 in Las Vegas.

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