ETNO Trento Event “What Innovation for Telecom Operators” Trento, June 24 2011

Brussels - ETNO will gather the Heads of Innovation, Strategies and Networks from the main European e-communications players on the occasion of an international workshop. They will address innovative developments in broadband applications, services and networks. The two panels of the event will be chaired by Jonathan Liebenau and Patrik Kärrberg, Professors at the London School of Economics. The workshop will be hosted by Telecom Italia and the Autonomous Province of Trento with the support of the Financial Times, as event partner and of Informatica Trentina.

“Innovation in the ICT sector is often associated with the new services offered by the over-the-top players; although such services rely on networks’ innovation. The purpose of the Trento event – as said by Luigi Gambardella, ETNO Executive Board Chairman – is to trigger a debate on how innovation brought by telecom operators plays a key role for market development. Choosing Trento to hold the ETNO Executive Board meeting and the Workshop represents a distinction for a city that stands as a technology and telecommunications capital in the EU. The ETNO event will also be an opportunity to introduce and discuss with the major European operators the “Trento model”, a best practice of public-private cooperation for the optical fibre development.”
The excellence of Trento in the field of innovation has been just confirmed by the European Commission, through its election in the OUTSMART project, aiming at exploring the future Internet in making public infrastructure in urban areas more intelligent and efficient.

“The decision to set up this event in Trento – says Lorenzo Dellai, President of the Autonomous Province of Trento – constitutes a distinction given by the European operators to a territory and a community whose strategic challenge is made up of innovation. The future of Trentino depends also on the opportunities of development and of economic and social growth that will be enjoyed by its businesses and citizens. The deployment project of 800 kilometres fibre backbone and the agreement with Telecom Italia for a NGN infrastructure serving 150 thousands households are just the first answers to an increasing demand for access and services. The “Trento model” will merge global instruments with a strongly territorial social fabric.”

ETNO’s 40 member companies from 35 European countries, which include Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom, KPN, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, TeliaSonera, represent a significant part of total ICT activity in Europe. They account for an aggregate annual turnover of more than €250 billion and employ over one million people across Europe.

For more information, please contact:

Thierry Dieu, ETNO Communications Manager

Tel: (32-2) 219 32 42

Fax: (32-2) 219 64 12

E-mail: dieu@etno.be