Welcome to PTC'09

There is little doubt that the telecommunications landscape today is characterized by change.  PTC'09 has taken the theme of change to capture not only the myriad new developments across the entire telecommunications domain, but also the manner by which change is occurring through greater collaboration.

Changes over the last several years in particular have created today's telecom services that might be viewed as just short of magic.  Competition has reached nearly every corner of the globe and segment of the market. Traditional fixed-line telephones are disappearing, replaced by a rapid expansion of mobile devices and IP-based services.

Change has been good. Hundreds of millions more people around the world today have affordable access and receive services that would have been inconceivable only a few years ago. 

Change brings challenges and these challenges are the focus of PTC'09. Services have become far too complex to be developed and offered by a single integrated service provider. Today’s telecommunication services and applications would not be possible without unprecedented collaboration between carriers, software developers, researchers and equipment makers, both in their home countries and across borders.

While challenges remain, change brings many new opportunities as well.  PTC'09 will explore these and the strategies and partnerships that bring them to market.

No event embraces the spirit of collaboration more completely than PTC.  For 31 consecutive years, telecommunications companies, equipment and software developers, content and media services providers, vendors, investors, academics and researchers, policy makers and civil society representatives have met each January in Hawaii to forge alliances, negotiate agreements, and to learn from one another's experiences.

We invite you to join us in collaborating for change at PTC’09!

Stephan Beckert and Richard Taylor,
PTC'09 Program Co-Chairs