News Broadcasting
BroadcastAsia 2005 & Tech Shows Draw 60,552 Attendees
MUMBAI: The regions largest technology trade shows have ended on a vibrant and positive note, attracting 60,552 attendees as well as top honchos from the IT, communication and broadcasting industries. Of this, 48.4 percent were from overseas.
CommunicAsia, EnterpriseIT and BroadcastAsia 2005 exhibitions and conferences which ended today, drew praise and favourable comments from exhibitors, visitors, conference speakers and delegates alike.
Both the shows and conferences surpassed our expectations, says Stephen Tan, Chief Executive of organiser Singapore Exhibition Services Pte Ltd.
An estimated 1,600 delegates and speakers were at CommunicAsia and BroadcastAsia conferences. The exhibitions at the Singapore Expo, accommodated 2,238 exhibiting companies from 55 countries covering 62,000 sq metres of exhibition space.
For the first time the CommunicAsia Summit conference featured a three-day CEO Perspective panel session, where head honchos of telcos and vendors exchanged industry views and insights with the audience.
I find this conference very good for sharing and bouncing ideas, says Tom Goodwin, regional CTO of Lucent Technologies, and one of the panel speakers. Mr Goodwin shared with delegates his insight into the mobile phone market. Mobile operators most valuable asset is their subscriber base, he says. But currently theres nothing that the operators are providing that will enable them to hold on to their subscribers, he cautions.
-Another head honcho at the CEO dialogue session was Siemens Communications Thorsten Heins. It was my pleasure to speak, he says. This was such a high quality and vibrant audience. The questions they asked were also excellent. I spoke here in CommunicAsia in 1993. I would certainly love to speak again. As a board member of Siemens with responsibility for Asia Pacific, I will come here again, adds Mr Heins who is based in Munich, Germany.
On the exhibition itself, the convergence theme has brought more mobile operators and handset manufacturers than ever before which is perfect for Zi, says Canadian exhibitor Zi Corps chief operating officer Milos Djokovic. Our Qix service discovery platform is just what 3G needs to increase usage and drive up ARPU; CommunicAsia gave us a perfect Asian launch pad, he adds.
The three shows will be the centre of ICT trading for South-east Asia and the Middle East. Visitor traffic has been very good and we got a lot of potential customers. The visitors come from a wide range of countries both local and international. says Mr Panutat Tejasen, board member of Thailands Software Industry Promotion Agency (SIPA).
There are a lot more visitors this year compared with last year, says manager Ahn Sung-Joon of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency pavilion at CommunicAsia. The Korean companies find CommunicAsia very vibrant. Korean companies are well-known for their IT products, so many companies proceed to the Korean pavilion for IT products. We expect to come back to CommunicAsia next year.
On the BroadcastAsia side, exhibitor Harris Corps trade show manager Marilyn O Dear says: This year has been even better than last year. The addition of the Encoda system to our booth has also been very successful.
Agreeing with her is international sales manager Victor Sunol of Just Edit, a Spanish broadcast solution provider. We have made good contacts, especially from Cambodia, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Another broadcast exhibitor Millers managing director Grant Clementson says: Weve done the show every year since its launch. We are pleased with visitors to our booth from all across the region Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia.
We find CommunicAsia very useful, says Mora J. Siregar, research and analysis marketing executive with Indonesias Indosat, a repeat visitor who was here last year. General manager Nuttakij Chareon of Kuan Dee Churng Dee Co. of Thailand, another repeat visitor, agrees that CommunicAsia is the place to source d educational opportunities.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to host Kolkata Town Hall on Hooghly River
‘Bhalobasa Bengal Inspiring Bharat’ event on April 20 brings cultural icons, trailblazing women and leaders aboard a cruise to celebrate Bengal’s enduring influence.
MUMBAI: Bengal is about to make fresh waves on the Hooghly and this time the current is pure conversation. CNN-News18 is taking its iconic Town Hall format to the waters of the iconic Hooghly River on 20 April 2026 with a special edition titled ‘Bhalobasa Bengal – Inspiring Bharat’. The floating event will celebrate the state’s rich cultural legacy and how its ideas, creativity and spirit continue to shape the rest of the country.
The unique riverside setting draws on Bengal’s history as a cradle of reform, art and intellectual thought. The speaker line-up mirrors that diversity: cultural heavyweights Mithun Chakraborty and Sreenanda Shankar will share the stage with trailblazing “Devis” such as Tanya Sanyal (India’s first woman firefighter in aviation), Ipsita Chakraborty (Kolkata’s first woman bartender) and Reshma Nilofer Visalakshi (Nari Shakti awardee and marine pilot). Music will flow through the celebrated pianist-vocalist duo Sourendro and Soumyojit, while public life and governance will be represented by Smriti Irani, Leander Paes, Saira Shah Halim, Keya Ghosh, Rekha Patra, Roopa Ganguly and Babul Supriyo.
CNN-News18, editorial affairs director, Rahul Shivshankar, said the event honours voices that carry Bengal’s legacy forward. Smriti Mehra, CEO – English & Business News, Network18, added that Bengal’s stories resonate far beyond its borders, especially as the state heads into polls.
From the first woman to battle flames in the skies to legendary actors who shaped Indian cinema, the gathering promises a rich mix of inspiration, courage and candid dialogue. In a city where culture has always flowed as freely as the river itself, CNN-News18 is turning the Hooghly into a floating forum for ideas that matter.
Tune in on 20 April on CNN-News18, CTV and YouTube to catch Bengal’s heartbeat in full flow.
