CyberPress forum tackles 4-play convergence

Convergence had been a buzz word in the ICT arena in recent years with telecommunication firms around the world willingly redirecting business plans to embrace this latest industry trend. But how ready are the local industry players, stakeholders, and regulators for this phenomenon?

This is but one of the questions that will be addressed during a forum on telecommunications convergence organized by the IT Journalists Association of the Philippines Inc. or CyberPress titled “4-Play (Voice, Data, Video and the Future of Communications).”

The event will cover the latest trends in wired and wireless communications, as well as the services that go with these. It would be held at the New World Hotel on August 23 (Wednesday), 2006 from 8 AM to 12PM.

CyberPress is an organization composed of the country’s print, online, and broadcast IT journalists. The event is being supported by Avaya, CA, HP, Innove, Microsoft, Netopia, Nokia, Nortel, PLDT, Smart, Sony-Ericsson, Sun Microsystems, and ZTE.

Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) Chair Ramon Sales and National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) Commissioner Ronald Solis will be joining the forum and will try to update the audience with how the national government deals with the challenges and issues that would come with this new technology trend.

Industry think tank International Data Corporation (IDC) Philippines will report on the trends of convergence for both fixed-line/mobile as Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) and Globe Telecom speak for the telecommunications space.

The availability of handsets and the functions that allow for 3G services (mobileTV, video-or music-on-demand) will be addressed by handset manufacturer Nokia during the half-day forum. How are the TV networks approaching the idea of possibly delivering TV services through the Internet or mobile phones will likewise be answered by a representative from the country’s leading network.

On the matter of content that would run on a converged environment, Anino Entertainment, a local game developer, would try to give the forum attendees a preview of how games would look like on a converged platform.

For inquiries and for registration, contact Events@Work at 897-6391/897-7091 local 3 or email cyberpress@eventsatwork.com.