Voice&Data to host Telecom Leadership Forum on 24 March

The 20th edition of the coveted annual industry event will be organized online for the first time following COVID-19 protocol and social distancing norms.

India’s oldest and leading telecom industry magazine Voice&Data is organising the 20th edition of its flagship annual event, the Telecom Leadership Forum and Awards on 24 March 2021. Keeping in view the COVID-19 protocol and social distancing norms, the coveted annual conference of the telecom industry will be hosted for the first time on a digital platform. The one-day virtual forum will see participation from the who’s who of the Indian telecom industry, including leaders, decision-makers, policy-makers, academia, IT heads, start-ups, investors, and other stakeholders from the ecosystem.

The theme for this year’s TLF is ‘Bedrock of Digital Economy’ that will discuss and explore new and emerging business models, technology options, revenue streams, and changing customer expectations. The keynote address will be delivered by Anshu Prakash, Secretary, Department of Telecommunication, Government of India, while the Industry Keynote will be given by Sanjay Kaul, President APAC & Japan, Service Providers Business-Cisco. Besides, the inaugural session will also have a Special Address on Rebooting the Economy by KG Purushothaman, Partner and National Sector Leader, Telecommunications, KPMG.

The event, which is expected to be attended by over 2,000 participants from across India, will also be attended by over 50 industry experts and veteran speakers. It will run two parallel panel tracks – technology and strategy. Apart from that, the forum has some interesting offerings like Fireside Chat, One-on-One Sessions with industry leaders, live polls, and live chats with attendees.

Through these sessions, the event intends to hold insightful discussions and deliberations by experts and industry veterans on various topics covering 5G network, mobile cloud architecture and models, future of enterprise networking technology, digital banking, Digital India mission and the readiness of the telecom sector, government policies and frameworks for the telecom sector, market impact of Wi-Fi 6E.

The event has also been designed in a way that participants can earn points for each activity including interaction with other delegates, by visiting the digital showcase booths, and asking questions. These points will entitle participants to win exciting prizes and gifts.

The TLF deliberation and conference will be followed by the prestigious Voice&Data TLF Award for 2020 in four categories, including the most prestigious telecom industry award V&D Telecom Person of the Year Award, V&D Lifetime Achievement Award, V&D Phoenix Award, and the V&D Special Jury Award. The winners were selected through a 3-tier evaluation process, including open nomination, research by the Voice&Data editorial team, and an award jury process chaired by Dr. R S Sharma, CEO of National Health Authority & head of the empowered group on COVID-19 vaccinations. It was Co-chaired by Dr. Anand Agarwal, Group CEO-STL, and Manoj Kohli, Country Head-Softbank India.

The other members of the jury included Lt. Gen Dr. S P Kochhar, Director General, COAI; TV Ramachandran, President-BIF; Prof. Veezhinathan Kamakoti, Dept of Computer Science & Engineering-IIT Madras; Sanjay Kaul, President, Asia Pacific & Japan, Service Providers Business-Cisco; Prof. NK Goyal, Chairman Emeritus of TEMA & President CMAI Association of India; Manu Jain, Vice President-Xiaomi & Managing Director-Mi India; and Pradeep Gupta, Chairman, CyberMedia Group.

The event is supported by Cisco as the presenting partner and is powered by HPE-PC Solutions. The event gold partners include Sterlite Technologies, Comviva, Accenture, Ciena, and has support from industry associations Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), Broadband India Forum (BIF), CMAI, ICEA, ITU-APT, TAIPA, and TEMA.