Americas TELECOM'96

The regional TELECOM Forum and Exhibition for the Americas, Americas TELECOM'96, will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 10-15 June 1996. The event is being organized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a specialized agency of the United Nations Organization. The ITU's mandate includes regulation and standardization across 184 member countries, leading to the global spread of efficient telecommunications for all.

World TELECOM gatherings are held every four years but regional gatherings take place in the interim. These regional gatherings bring together the industry's most influential players in those areas of the world where the telecommunications needs and the market opportunities are greatest: the Americas, Asia and Africa.

Americas TELECOM'96 promises to be the most successful regional event yet with over 350 participants, including the industry's major international corporations and a strong representation from local companies. At least 20,000 visitors are expected, with representatives from government delegations from many of the 184 member countries of the International Telecommunications Union, as well as senior executives from suppliers, operators, investors and others with an interest in the telecommunications future of the region.

The Americas TELECOM'96 Forum will comprise two separate summits: a "Strategies Summit" and a "Technology Summit". The two summits will run in parallel throughout the whole week. The Strategies Summit will give the floor to high-level speakers on policy and regulatory issues, regional alliances, finance and trade, risk assessment, political challenges and other strategic considerations. The Technology Summit will consider the technical means by which the Americas region can achieve a major leap forward, including the latest advances in hardware, software and networking concepts, taking account of regional needs. The summits will both include workshops.

The Forum Advisory Committee has begun identifying topics and is inviting synopses (not more than 300 words) of potential contributions on one of the following topics:

- Strategies Summit:
. American geopolitical challenges;
. Between fragility and growth (sources of financing and investment prerequisites);
. Assessing risks and maximizing growth potential;
. New market paradigms (entertainment and broadcasting, mobile trends, cultural diversity);
. Regional alliances and market globalization;
. Regulation and privatization;
. Regional standards and international integration;
. Political challenges;
. Narrowing the knowledge gap;
. Managing by example - American success stories;
. Regional cooperation and the new trade environment;
. The Information Age;
. The Information Highway - the missing link or a new frontier?;
. Upsizing for growth;
. Interacting towards the global Information Society;

- Technology Summit:
. Universal Personal Telecommunications (UPT);
. Wireless telecommunications;
. Broadband telecommunications;
. Transport network evolution;
. Multimedia applications;
. American realities;
. Information highway technologies;
. TV in progress.

Within the Technology Summit, workshops will be organized on:

- Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM);
- Mobile standards;
- The World Wide Web;
- Human resources and tele-education;
- Telemedicine;
- Maintenance;
- Emergency telecommunications.
Information on the Forum is available from:

Elizabeth Lake
Americas TELECOM'96 Forum Secretariat
International Telecommunications Union
Place des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 20
Tel. +41-22-7305680; Fax +41-22-7306444
E-mail: forumcfp@itu.ch

Exhibition details are available from:

Americas TELECOM'96
International Telecommunications Union
Place des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 20
Tel. +41-22-7306161; Fax +41-22-7306444