Page 14 - Sphere No.10 (Dec 2003)

S PHERE
12
A hot topic of debate at the ITU
World Telecom 2003 conference
revolved around the future direc-
tion of the telecoms industry.
Appropriately,Vincenzo Novari, CEO of
H3G Italy, delivered the keynote speech for
the session entitled “Towards a Next
Generation of Mobile Services.”
While most telecoms CEOs are still con-
templating the future, Novari, in a sense,
has already arrived. The Italian operation,
which Novari heads, has been setting a blis-
tering pace in pioneering 3G technology
and services under the 3 brand.
No surprise then that he chose to talk
about the present to throw light on what is
yet to come.
Sharing his vision of 3G as the new
mobile communications frontier, Novari
admitted: “I have not travelled to the
future, I can only tell you what I have
under my own eyes.”
Summing up the current position of the
mobile telecoms arena, Novari said there
were three things on which everybody
more or less agreed.
“First, the mobile phone is the most
widespread technology in recent years. Its
penetration goes beyond geographic and
social limits; it is personal and personalisable,
it is in the pocket of each one of us. Second,
the phone is evolving. It has been enriched
with new functions and services, which in
just a short time will be considered a neces-
sity. Third, incumbent operators are search-
ing to keep pace with this evolution.”
THE BIG QUESTION
The “mother of all questions” mobile com-
panies now face is how to significantly
increase their value, Novari said.
While operators are focusing on the
search for a “killer application” they are in
fact “still on the crest of the wave of the
killer application called ‘mobility’”.
The “shocking success” of mobile phones
had far outstripped the estimations of indus-
try analysts in the late 1980s, he said.
N E T W O R K I N G
REGULATORS, GOVERNMENT MINISTERS AND CEOS GATHERED IN GENEVA IN
October for the ITU Telecom World 2003 conference. Held every three years, the event provides
an important platform for strategic debate and business networking.
This year, approximately 850 exhibitors and more than 115,000 people attended. As a major glob-
al telecoms player and a leader in 3G deployment, Hutchison made a significant impact. Not only
was the Group represented by several key delegates, but Hutchison 3G (H3G) sponsored the Youth
Forum, with Agnes Nardi, MD of Hutchison Telecom (HK) and H3G HK, addressing the young
delegates. Further exemplifying H3G’s position as a pioneer,Vincenzo Novari, CEO of H3G Italy,
delivered the keynote speech for the Main Forum session entitled “Towards a Next Generation of
Mobile Services.”
Agnes Nardi, MD of Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong
and H3G HK, delivers a speech at the start of the ITU
Youth Forum, which was sponsored by Hutchison.
ROADMAP FOR THE NEW FRONTIER
Talk Tank
ITU Telecom World is among the most important events on the telecommunications calendar and
this year Hutchison helped set the agenda.
By Mark Caldwell