USTA Launches Replacement Telecom Show

By Margo McCall -- Tradeshow Week, 4/25/2005

The battle for the heart and soul of the telecom industry is heating up as the two associations that have jointly sponsored SUPERCOMM for nearly two decades consider their post-breakup plans.

As the Telecommunications Industry Assn. and U.S. Telecom Assn. get ready for their final SUPERCOMM, set for Chicago's McCormick Place June 6–9, both are making plans for 2006 replacement shows.

Neither association can use the jointly owned SUPERCOMM name, but TIA, as the show's manager, has rights to the early-June dates at McCormick Place. TIA has been preparing since last October to launch its replacement show, GLOBALCOMM, June 5–8 at McCormick.

USTA had planned to focus on its mid-October TELECOM. But now the association has decided to cancel the Las Vegas-based show after this year. TELECOM, named TSW's fastest-growing association show in 2004, last year drew 5,300 attendees and 235 exhibitors to a 38,500 net square foot showfloor at the Sands Expo & Convention Center.

Its replacement in 2006 will be TelecomNEXT, an event that Walter McCormick, USTA president and CEO, proclaimed will become "the only annual industry forum that reflects the new world of communications." The event is set to draw 15,000 attendees and 300 exhibitors to Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Convention Center March 19–23.

McCormick described TelecomNEXT as a new event intended to better serve an evolving communications market-place. "It is survival of the fittest," said McCormick in announcing TelecomNEXT. "As Charles Darwin noted more than a century ago, the species that survived were the species that evolved."

In addition to choosing between SUPERCOMM's successors, the telecom industry in 2006 may have to decide between TelecomNEXT and several other spring communications shows. CTIA Wireless is set for April 5–7 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Spring VON March 13–16 at the San Jose (Calif.) McEnery Convention Center and CeBIT, March 9–15 in Hannover, Germany.

Lucent Technologies, which typically has a strong presence at CTIA and SUPERCOMM, is still reviewing its options, said spokesman Dick Muldoon.

But Redback Networks, which doesn't exhibit at CTIA, plans to exhibit at both TelecomNEXT and GLOBALCOMM. "Our plan is to participate in both. There's a wait-and-see (attitude) in the reality as to how they will shape up," said Steve Schick, director of corporate communications.

Schick said SUPERCOMM and TELECOM have served different functions and audiences. TELECOM has had the stronger conference sessions, he said, while SUPERCOMM has had the bigger exhibit floor.

Joachim Schafer, president of Hannover Fairs USA, said CeBIT organizer Deutsche Messe isn't concerned about the USTA show bumping up against its dates. "Event organizers are often given limited choices by hall owners in the available date windows," he said.

However, TIA President Matt Flanigan remarked that USTA's dates for TelecomNEXT come during "a very busy time for shows." He added that TelecomNEXT coming before GLOBALCOMM in the tradeshow season shouldn't put TIA at a competitive disadvantage. "I always liked being the last guy in the door," he said.

McCormick said moving the association's annual show to spring will better serve the industry's purchasing patterns. He believes the industry needs a show "that truly reflects the new integrated communications marketplace," one that embraces wireline, wireless and cable, as well as the offerings of voice, video and Internet service.

McCormick contended that TelecomNEXT will be "entirely new," adding, "the last thing that the world needs today is another traditional telecom tradeshow."

When TIA's Flanigan announced GLOBALCOMM last fall, he also described it as serving "a converged, next-generation global telecommunications marketplace." Flanigan predicts that companies will attend both events next year, then determine which serves them best. He said TIA wanted to continue the SUPERCOMM partnership, but USTA members "wanted to go their separate ways."

McCormick said TelecomNEXT was conceived after talking to association members and TELECOM exhibitors and attendees. "Simply put, if you are looking for buyers, this is your show," he said. "TelecomNEXT will be where the deals get done, where commerce gets enacted."

USTA has already secured keynote commitments from top executives from an array of carriers, including Alltel, Bell Canada, BellSouth, CenturyTel and Verizon Communications. McCormick said the exhibit floor is currently 45 percent sold.

TIA, meanwhile, has sold 122,000 net sq. ft. of space, nearly half of the more than 300,000 sq. ft. expected.

So will the final SUPERCOMM become a battleground as the respective associations try to sign up exhibitors for their 2006 shows?

Flanigan said he hopes not, since both associations agreed to restrict sales pitches to the respective associations' sales offices and showfloor booths.

And he warned that as show manager, TIA will be enforcing that rule. "We have the right to correct anything that's improper," he said.