To provide a venue to tackle?the latest technologies and breakthroughs in telecommunications, information and communications technology and related industries, the Asian Carriers Conference (ACC) has formally started at Shangri-La?s Mactan Resort & Spa in Cebu with multimedia and telecoms provider PLDT and its mobile subsidiaries Smart Communications and Sun Cellular as hosts.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with the theme ?Discover the Future of Telecom Carriers,? the four-day conference scheduled from September 10 to 13?is being attended by delegates from 45 countries representing more than 500 companies including wholesale fixed and mobile telecom carriers, network and infrastructure providers, applications and service developers, handset and equipment manufacturers, and entertainment and content distributors.
For the past nine years, the ACC has been a venue for the Asian telecom industry movers to establish alliances and forge partnerships. ?When ACC was first convened in 2005, we had 195 delegates representing 33 companies. The number of attendees has been increasing since then. In 2013, after nine years, our numbers rose up to almost 1,500. This year, as we celebrate the ACC?s 10th anniversary, we expect to top last year?s attendance,? said Ernesto R. Alberto, PLDT executive vice president and head of Enterprise and International and Carrier Business.
Scheduled speakers in the conference plenary sessions include Context Computing?s chief scientist Jeff Jonas, Rappler.com’s CEO and?executive editor Maria Ressa, and Telarix senior vice president for worldwide sales and marketing Vic Bozzo.
?The ACC has become the conference of choice for many attendees because of its impressive line-up of speakers in the plenary and the various workshops, as well as the valuable bilateral meetings where delegates gain new business partners, knowledge and insights on the latest trends in the industry,? Alberto said.
?The ACC is a much-anticipated event for delegates from the carriers and related fields because it combines learning and networking opportunities with fun and exciting social activities, as well as excellent accommodations in Mactan, Cebu?s finest hotels,? added?Alejandro O. Caeg, PLDT International and?Carrier Business Head and PLDT Global Corporation President and?CEO.
Other scheduled speakers are Cody Williams, TeleGeography Research Analyst; Andreas Hipp, Epsilon Global Communications CEO; Ivan Landen, Expereo Managing Director for Asia Pacific; Leo Varughese, RedKnee Product Manager; Casey Tan, Telstra Global Senior Product Manager for Mobile & Voice Services; Rob van den Dam, IBM Global Telecommunications Industry Leader; Kevin Vachon, Metro Ethernet Forum COO; and Junde Yu, AppAnnie Vice President for Asia Pacific.
The event partners of the 10th ACC include?Orange of France; PCCW Global, IDT Asia, Hutchison Global Communications, Vasudev Global, World Hub, and Telstra of Hong Kong; Tata Communications of India and Canada; Bangla Trac and DBL Telecom of Bangladesh; BICS and Voxbone of Belgium; Huawei and Quickcom Global Communications of China; Telekom Malaysia and Fizan Telecom of Malaysia; Ciena, iVoice, REVE Systems, NGT Networks, and Expereo of Singapore; Deutsche Telekom and Ascom of Germany; Bharti Airtel and Videocon Telecom of India; Syniverse, Verizon, Telarix, and Genband of the United States; Epsilon Global Communications of the United Kingdom; MMD Smart of Israel; CSG International of Australia; Telenor Global Services of Norway; Dialogic of Ireland; and Redknee of Canada.
A winner of the Best Telecommunications? Conference Award in 2011 at the First Asia Conference Awards, the four-day conference is designed not only to provide networking opportunities for the participating companies, it also aims to integrate corporate social responsibility project in the agenda.
