Convergence Sets In

vspace="2" width="148" height="111"> align="right" hspace="2" vspace="2" width="148" height="89">The

most visible trend reflected in CommsIndia ’97 was the

convergence of technologies, especially in voice and data.

CommsIndia has become a forum for various

constituents of the Indian communications industry and the first

venue on the itinerary for international corporates intending to

play the communication game here.

CommsIndia is the mood indicator of the

industry in present times—a la carte of the boom that

is to come in 1998. If the subdued mood among the stalls were

indicative of the slight pessimism that has crept into the

mindset of the industry, the excitement during the heated debates

showed the industry’s concern.

Organized during 9-11 December 1997, the

exhibition took off with the inaugural ceremony in the indoors of

Hall No. 18 at the Pragati Maidan Complex in New Delhi. The event

was inaugurated jointly by Justice PB Sawant, chairman, Press

Council of India, and AV Gokak, chairman, Telecom Commission.

Prem Behl, the president and CEO of Exhibitions India, the

organizers, welcomed the visitors to the show.

width="148" height="103"> hspace="2" vspace="2" width="148" height="67">Though

the show took off on a damp note, with rains lashing the venue

during the morning hours of the first day, the momentum soon

picked up and the mood changed to that of enthusiasm and purpose.

Exhibitors, visitors, conference speakers, delegates, and

professionals assembled from over 30 countries. CommsIndia

continued to be a mixed bag of big and small exhibitors. However,

some big industry names were conspicuous by their absence.

Motorola, Nokia, and Tata Lucent being the notable ones.

If there was a flavour during the CommsIndia

this time, it was mobile satellite services, with as many as four

major consortiums brandishing their corporate image in all glory

and trying their best to create a mindshare among the

predominantly industry crowd. Iridium, which is all set to start

its services in the later part of this year, even went to the

extent of exhibiting some of the handsets to be used. With a few

of them looking like gizmos straight out of a science fiction

movie. Globalstar, not to be beaten, occupied one of the biggest

stalls in the hall. With Satphone and ICO trying to match them,

the battle for the skies has surely begun.

width="148" height="111"> hspace="2" vspace="2" width="148" height="112">The

ubiquitous, almost to the extent of emerging the official,

technology of the event was Wireless In Local Loop (WILL). The

various WILL standards present were CDMA-based, floated by

Qualcomm, Hyundai, and DSC Communications; D-AMPS-based, by

Ericsson and Tellabs; DECT-based, by Alcatel, Ericsson, Italtel,

and Shyam Telecom; and PHS-based, by ArrayComm. Each exhibitor

tried explaining the pros and cons of his solution with respect

to others.

Equally opportune was CommsIndia ’97 for

the test and measurement companies. HP, Wandel & Goltermann,

AIMIL, Fastech, Tektronix, Subex, and Wavetek all were displaying

their various products in the exhibition. Transmission companies

were present with equal might. Alcatel and Ericsson had crowds

converging to their stalls. Punwire and Shyam Telecom were the

notables among the Indian companies which stood out.

width="148" height="89">Computer telephony segment

was represented by Dialogic, Voxtron, and Siemens Information

Systems Ltd. While Fujitsu and Mitel displayed their

semiconductors for various communication purposes.

All three days, discussions were held during

the conference hours—1000-1400 hours. The topics on

discussion were privatization, networking technologies, spectrum

management, satellite technologies, Internet, and wireless. The

speakers included N Vittal, chairman, Public Enterprise Selection

Board; RN Agarwal, wireless advisor, ministry of communications;

Per Hjerppe, director Internet Business Group, Asia-Pacific,

Digital; Anand Pillai, country manager, Bay Networks; Graham

Davey, director, government relationships, Motorola India; and

Virat Bhatia, director, AT&T India. Held in two tracks

hand-in-hand, not all were sufficiently packed with audience. Two

of the topics which raised dust and storm this time were spectrum

management and Internet policy and operations. There were lots of

hullabaloo and inquisitiveness among the audience on the

occasions where the two above-mentioned topics were discussed.

However, audiences were lacking in both numbers and interest when

most of the other topics were discussed.

All in all, CommsIndia ’97 was "not

bad". The crowd was not lesser than expected, in spite of an

unexpected downpour. And a fair amount of companies who were

looking to build brand image went back happy. Equally, though,

there were a number of companies who did not get what they were

expecting from the event. The ones who came with specific and

immediate business purposes.