Many Carriers’ Absence from Globalcomm Disappoint TIA
CHICAGO -- TIA will make stronger carrier participation a major priority next year, for its 2nd Globalcomm event, TIA Pres. Matt Flanigan told us as the first Globalcomm wound down here this week. While TIA won’t make the first move, the group is open to working with USTelecom to combine their shows into a reconstituted Supercomm, he said.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Flanigan conceded that low attendance by the carriers was a major concern. “Yes there are some missing segments,” Flanigan said: “We have been well supported by AT&T, but that’s about it. The other ILECs have not supported us well. I'm only hoping that they realize that that was a missed opportunity for them.” TIA officials said Thurs. it counted 18,343 audited attendees. It was smaller than Supercomms of the past and fell short of a goal of 20,000.
US Telecom -- which held a rival show in March in Las Vegas, TelecomNext -- reportedly encouraged its members not to support Globalcomm. Verizon in particular has been outspoken in its support for TelecomNext over Globalcomm, sources said. But AT&T had a heavy presence in Chicago and provided top executives as speakers.
“It’s been a huge disappointment, not only to TIA, since we organized this, but it has been a huge disappointment to exhibitors on the show floor. That’s their customer base,” Flanigan said: “Verizon and BellSouth chose not to come. I think it’s their loss, in the sense that a lot of technologies are here that they need for deployment of next generation networks.”
TIA and USTelecom went their separate ways from Supercomm last year after a contract between the 2 expired. Sources said TIA had asked for better terms because it felt it wasn’t getting its fair share under the old contract, but USTelecom largely refused to move off the historic contract. The relationship between the trade associations has been tense, especially since the disagreement over Supercomm.
A larger show works to the advantage of the sponsoring organizations, Flanigan said. “We were fortunate here having a show floor of 200,000 square feet that we did cover all of our fixed costs and we made a little money,” he said. “TelecomNext was a little smaller. I don’t know how they did. Would it make sense to have one show? Yes, from I think an association point of view, from an industry point of view. The exhibitors are being penalized by having 2 shows and that’s not right.”
Flanigan said TIA would welcome a combined show, if the numbers made sense from TIA’s perspective: “It would be great to put this back together again. We are open to discussions. We have always been. We didn’t want the separation. We worked hard for years to try to keep it together.” Industry is in the driver’s seat, he said: “I believe the reach needs to come from the people who are spending the money -- the exhibitors. The exhibitors need to let the respective groups know this is not in their best interest. This is not in the best interest of attendees.
Among the approximately 2 dozen exhibitors we spoke with, one recurring comment was that booth traffic was lighter than at Supercomm. Most said they would prefer a single show like Supercomm rather than having to decide between the 2 new shows. “People have been by but it’s not heavy like it was at Supercomm,” one exhibitor said. A 2nd described booth traffic as “dull, really dull,” especially on Mon., the start of the conference.
“I was surprised it wasn’t that bad,” said an official with a company that sells to both carriers and enterprise customers: “There were fewer people, but it has been all good quality contacts. There were fewer just kind of throw away conversations than last year.” The source said he would like to see Supercomm reconstituted: “I don’t know why they can’t get back together. If you combined the two shows you'd probably have what you had at Supercomm. This is no good for anyone.”
TelecomNext attracted 10,005 attendees in Las Vegas in March and 275 exhibitors, USTelecom said at the time (CD March 30 p10).
Flanigan said that while traffic on the show floor was light Mon., it picked up as the week went on. In 2007, Globalcomm will run Tues. through Thurs., the traditional days for Supercomm. “The event had been a major success,” Flanigan said. “We've had over 700 companies exhibiting and I have many people coming up to me congratulating me on the lineup of speakers.” This year’s show had the strongest policy presence a TIA show has ever had, said TIA Exec. Vp Grant Seiffert. Though Supercomm never focused much in that area, this year was unique in that 4 congressmen, several FCC commissioners and a number of Senate staffers were in attendance.
Seiffert said that was as much to their benefit as TIA members’, and the officials were interested in asking questions and leaning. He said next year’s show will have an even stronger Capitol Hill presence, though he was adamant that the focus will remain on having members sign deals, “not spend all day in meeting with politicians.”
Flanigan said TIA will keep Globalcomm in Chicago next year. The overwhelming reaction of the exhibitor advisor committee was “do not move the show to Las Vegas,” he said. “If you compare Chicago to Las Vegas, Chicago is a much better city for enterprise, a much better city for international flights and pricing is key,” he said: “The city came out very strong to say we want you here. Yes, it’s a unionized city. But even the unions have worked extremely well with us.”