Israel beckons India for Telecom Israel 2002

TEL-AVIV: Israel, well known in US and Europe for its R&D and technological strength in the areas of telecom and security, is now looking seriously at India, Far East Asia, and Eastern Europe, as some of the emerging markets where it wants to reach out. At the Telecom Israel 2002, a bi-annual telecom exhibition cum conference that is going to be held in Tel-Aviv from November 4th to 7th, 2002, Israel is going all out to get telecom equipment vendors and service providers to participate in the event.

The main product groups to be displayed are in the categories of fixed, mobile and satellite networks, Internet, Cable TV, optical networking, network management, network security, VPN, LAN/WAN/MAN and home networking, wireless LANs, OSS/BSS, Call Center equipment and services, messaging solutions and services, telecom signal processing, telecom semiconductors, video streaming, telecom software, Test & Measurement equipment, and defence telecommunications. Also on display would be new applications and services from service providers such as fixed, mobile, ISP, satellite, and cable TV providers. According to Reuvin Rivlin, minister of communications, who is personally involved in promoting the event, "Over 200 companies have already confirmed participation for the event".

The four day exhibition will be held over 35,000 square meter of space, and over 250 exhibitors are likely to participate. Over 1,50,000 visitors are expected to attend. In the previous expo, held at the peak of the telecom boom, over 350 companies participated, and there were 1,40,000 visitors from all over the world.

Traditionally Israel's majority of national revenues come from exports, as the local market with a population of about 6.5 million people is very small. Primarily, the US and Western Europe bought nearly 70 percent of Israel's total products including hi-tech and telecom, agriculture, and diamonds. However, the massive slowdown in the US and European markets are directly and severely affecting Israeli industry. Because communications is in a growth phase in most of the regions mentioned above, Israel is planning to have a special focus on these countries. Officials are very confident about the success. "Because the Israeli telecom market is a very advanced and competitive one, our products and services are able to attract world attention," says Uri Olenik, the Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Communications. Among the big names who have confirmed participation include Motorola, Cisco, Nortel, and Ericsson.

Besides the exhibition, the thrust is also to make the event high-profile and more participative. According to Isaac Kaul, Chairman of the Telecom Israel 2002 steering committee, "We expect about 20 telecom ministers from important countries to be present at the event." The organisers also claim that the conferences will have over 100 leading speakers talking about business, technology and application trends in telecommunications.