ASIA : The 3G World Congress 2003, Asia’s largest international mobile trade conference and exhibition, opens today in Bangkok.

More than 800 conference delegates, 100 journalists and 127 speakers will attend, which runs from November 3-7 at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center.

Keynote speakers include:
o Len J. Lauer, President and Chief Operating Officer, Sprint
o Tadashi Onodera, President, KDDI Corporation
o Marc Rouanne, Chief Operating Officer, Mobile Communications Group & President, Mobile Networks, Alcatel
o Christoph Caselitz, President, Mobile Networks, Siemens
o Dr. Irwin Jacobs, Chairman & CEO, Qualcomm
o Scott K. Erickson, President, Central America, Latin America & Asia Pacific Mobility Solutions, Lucent Technologies
o Soren Petersen, Senior Vice President and General Manager, CDMA, Nokia Mobile Phones

The Congress is open to trade representatives for the first time, and about 1500 are expected to attend. Organizers forecast attendance of about 2,000–2,500 people over the event’s three days – more than twice the number at last year’s Congress.

The exhibition at the 3G World Congress will provide the trade with an excellent opportunity to learn more about this dynamic industry. Clifford Shao, Vice President, Asia Pacific, of Schema explained: "To strengthen our commitment and to meet our objectives in the Asia Pacific region, Schema wants to participate in a world class regional event that combines access to key industry professionals with an innovative and focused conference agenda. The 3G World Congress is exactly such an event, and we are pleased to be part of it."

Other exhibitors include Huawei Technologies, the leading vendor for CDMA450, which will host a product launch for its CDMA450 handsets and fixed terminals.

Alcatel will showcase its worldwide network of live 2.5G and 3G environments: the 3G Reality Centres, five of which are located in the Asia-Pacific region.

QUALCOMM Internet Services will demonstrate a variety BREW-based handsets and applications from around the world. They will also showcase BREWChat, the company's push-to-chat solution, running live on Hutchison CAT’s CDMA2000 1X network.

Lucent Technologies will demonstrate its CDMA2000(tm) solutions, including mobile hot spots, video instant messaging and facial recognition technology. The will also showcase UMTS solutions and 3G wireless high speed data for enterprise solutions, which include CDMA450 implementation and CDMA2000(tm), demonstrating how operators can succeed with 3G technologies.

Ericsson will demonstrate it's true 3G CDMA2000 product solutions that are 1xEV-DO and DV ready, as well as its industry leading CDMA2000 MMS, WLAN and Instant Talk solutions.

Daniel Kirwin, Managing Director of IIR Asia, has been delighted with the strong response from exhibitors. “Opening the event for trade visitors will allow us to include a larger number of companies in the Congress, providing them with a forum to discuss and exchange opinions about the development and growth in the 3G world,” said Kirwin.

“Judging from the quality of the delegates and the speakers, I am convinced that this year’s 3G Congress will be an interesting and productive event for all participants,” Mr Kirwin added.

The 3G World Congress 2003 is organized by the Institute for International Research (IIR) in partnership with the CDMA Development Group (CDG) and the UMTS Forum. Officially supported by Thailand’s Ministry of Information & Communication Technology, it will be the only major telecommunications gathering held in Asia this year.

About 3G World Congress:
"3G World Congress, 8th Annual Global Wireless Business Event”, is unique in providing a truly global picture of 3G services and applications in use today. With over 1300 senior industry executives attending from more than 30 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Americas, this is an unrivalled learning, networking and business development opportunity for all mobile operators, service providers, strategic investors, financiers, content aggregators, application developers, and leading technology manufacturers.