As one of the most exciting and well attended telecommunication exhibitions in Africa, Tel.Com always has something new and enticing to offer visitors and this year's Tel.Com Africa 2000 will be no exception. Running from 02 - 05 May at Gallagher Estate in Midrand, Tel.Com Africa 2000 is being referred to as an influential event where all the telecomm action is as Africa moves into the new millennium and the era of African Renaissance. Day one on 2nd May will be open to pre-registered VIP's, media, conference attendees and the SMME (Small, Micro and Medium Enterprise) workshop attendees. The 3rd to 5th May will be open to the public.
After the enormous success of Tel.Com 1999 - with over 9 500 visitors and 103 exhibitors - exhibition organiser International Fairs and Exhibitions, announced soon after the '99 show that the bi-annual event, would be hosted once again in 2000. This news has been enthusiastically received by exhibitors - many of whom booked immediately after Tel.Com 1999. Exhibitors at the 2000 expo will represent every aspect of telecomm products and services for virtually all industry needs from corporates, to engineering concerns, electrical and other trade sectors, to SMME's among many others. The telecomms sectors represented will include:
Infrastructure, telephone equipment, networks, cellular, call centres, radio, satellite, the Internet, e-commerce, voice and video, switching, components, cabling and fibre optics, ISDN, consulting and outsourcing, education, training and systems.
With over 100 exhibitors already booked, some of the top exhibitors include: 3M South Africa, Alcatel, Bosch Telecom, Cisco Systems, Ericsson SA, France Telecom, Grintek, Huawei Technologies, Infoline, Lucent Technologies, Marconi Communications, Marpless Communication Technologies, MTM, Nokia Telecoms, Siemens, Telkom SA, The Ikwezi Group, Transtel and Vodacom among many others.
The conference
The comprehensive conference running alongside the expo and once again organised by SBS Conferences, in association with the Computer Society of SA and the Electronics Industries Federation of SA - will focus on developing Africa's communications infrastructure and will be looking into regulatory issues, open competition, standards, service levels, tariffs and co-operative agreements across the continent as well as new technologies, the Internet and e-commerce.
The one day workshop on 2nd May will focus on helping SMME's (Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises) and emerging entrepreneurs in the
communications industry and will address issues such as trade opportunities, sources of finance, technology transfer, government and non-government agency assistance.
The SMME workshop is as a result of discussions at the last expo between the organisers and the then Minister of Communication Minister Jay Naidoo and Director General Andile Ngcaba. They both expressed their belief in the huge potential and opportunities for SMME's in the telecomm industry. With over 300 000 registered SMME's in SA, the organisers agreed and decided to host the first SMME workshop at Tel.Com Africa 2000.
The first speaker for the SMME workshop is the Minister of Trade & Industry, Alec Erwin, who will be talking on the role of government in developing small business. Brett Jury, Senior Manager: Small & Medium Enterprise, FNB First Commerce will follow with a discussion on how SMME's can raise capital.
Other interesting talks throughout the day include topics such as marketing and promoting your business by Bill Gibson, International Marketing & Sales Trainer from Canada and the special SMME procurement practices of three major organisations and case studies from four very successful entrepreneurs Speakers at the three day conference include coups such as: Carlos Guzman-Perry, VP International Research, The Yankie Group, USA who will talk about trends and directions in the international telecommunications market - Peter Archer, Director, British Telecommunications, UK who will outline how BT evolved from a state monopoly to a world leader in global telecommunications - Diana Sharpe, Chairman International Telecommunications Users Group, UK who will discuss the highly contentious subject of regulation and control New hot technologies such WAP (Wireless Access Protocol) and DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) , the infrastructural demands of the emerging digital economy and the challenges of the convergence of voice, data and video will be addressed.
"Tel.Com Africa 2000 is the largest and most informative telecommunications event in Africa and one that cannot be missed if you are seriously involved in the telecommunications industry. It is the one event where policy makers, businessmen and telecommunications specialist from both users and suppliers get together. It's the conference where you gain the most valuable insight into your future. It's the event that offers you networking opportunities second to none. It's the event you must attend!" says Peter Aspinall, Managing Director of SBS Conferences
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