Bandwidth Battlefront Conference...
<<Third Annual Telecosm Conference Stimulates Debate On Issues Surrounding the 'Bandwidth Battlefront'
Conference Delegates and Speakers Discuss
Implications of Rapid Bandwidth Growth
LAKE TAHOE, Calif., Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- TELECOSM '99 -- The third annual Telecosm conference kicked off this week at The Resort at Squaw Creek in Lake Tahoe, California with a sold-out group of close to 420 delegates from the technology, telecommunications, investment and public policy sectors. More than a quarter of the attendees at Telecosm '99 participated in the conference last year, underscoring the importance of the topic of bandwidth and the desire to solidify a community of industry leaders, investors and innovators around the issues and opportunities presented by the topic.
The conference kicked off with a presentation by Gary Winnick, Chairman of Global Crossing, Ltd. of his vision of global networks and how they will set the stage for bandwidth to circle the globe.<b/> Attendees spent the first full day of the conference attending timely and controversial panel presentations on networking, circuit switching, infrastructure, and up-spectrum wireless, as well as keynote presentations from Clayton Christensen, Professor at the Harvard Business School and author of The Innovator's Dilemma and Carver Mead, Chairman of Foveon and Professor Emeritus at California Technical Institute.
"Some dismiss the debate of the future of bandwidth as a holy war, and in many respects they are right, as it involves major paradigm shifts," commented George Gilder, chairman of GilderGroup and noted industry futurist. "But with paradigm shifts come severe growing pains, particularly in the industry of bandwidth where much is at stake."
On the first full day of the conference, Nortel Networks announced that it will offer a new package of fiber-optic equipment designed to improve the Internet's ability to carry telephone calls, TV signals, and data.
Keynote speakers addressed the following topics: trouble discerning major paradigm shifts, disruption with IP telephony, understanding the bandwidth issue, what to do with the bandwidth abundance. One of the most hotly contested topics of the day was the extent to which fiber optic networks will be built and whether they are truly economically feasible.
Wednesday's program will turn to discussions of the "last mile," content versus conduit, the bandwidth glut, and web-based services.
Attendance at the conference is capped to foster an intimate atmosphere and ample opportunity for discussion and networking. For more information and updates from the conference venue, please visit the conference Web site at www.forbes.com/conf/Telecosm99/index.htm .
About George Gilder
In addition to being Chairman of GilderGroup, George Gilder is editor of the Gilder Technology Report and founding editor of Forbes ASAP, the technology supplement to Forbes and the foremost publication aimed at upper management decision makers. Gilder travels some 300,000 miles annually, consulting to technology and media companies. His books include the highly influential bestseller, "Wealth and Poverty" (1981); "Microcosm" (1989); and "Life After Television" (1992), a prelude to his forthcoming book on the future of telecommunications, "Telecosm." A distinguished social scientist and economist, Gilder received the White House Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence in 1986.
About Forbes Magazine
For the last seven years, Forbes magazine has been the ad page leader in the business magazine category, according to the Publishers Information Bureau (PIB). In January, the magazine raised its rate base, the circulation it guarantees advertisers, to 785,000. Total worldwide audience for Forbes and Forbes Global, its English-language international edition, is more than five million. In recent years, Forbes has launched numerous publications and businesses. They include Forbes Global, as well as Forbes ASAP, the technology publication for management decision-makers, and Forbes FYI, the irreverent lifestyle quarterly edited by Christopher Buckley. The company's conference division, Forbes Management Conference Group, was created in 1995 and holds high level meetings for top executives, including the Forbes CEO Forum, the Gilder/Forbes Telecosm Conference, the New Economy Conference, and the Executive Women's Summit. Other company divisions formed within the last few years include: Forbes.com, the company's online division, and Forbes Special Interest Publications, both launched in 1997; and Forbes Custom Publishing, a book division, founded in 1993. Forbes also encompasses the American Heritage division, acquired in 1986, which publishes American Heritage magazine.
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