Record numbers at AfricaCom

The 14th annual AfricaCom Conference and Exhibition opened its doors today at the Cape Town International Conference Centre for the annual gathering of Africa’s telecommunications leaders. The show is expected to attract over 6 000 participants from over 100 countries.

This is expected to be the biggest show to date with well over 6,000 pre-registered participants from 100+ countries and a record 1,500+ companies. The number of participants is 15% up on 2010.

AfricaCom is the annual meeting place for all stakeholders in the continent’s telecoms market (operators, regulators, solutions and technology vendors, investors, analysts, banks and more) to learn about the latest trends, to share their experiences, to network and to do business. The event comprises:

A high-level strategic conference with over 170 expert speakers, 11 Focus Sessions, 2 Co-Located events (AfricaCast & Enterprise ICT Africa), 3 Masterclasses, a Lunch Briefing and 3 Workshops.

A 250-stand exhibition representing the whole telecom ecosystem: large equipment manufacturers, local infrastructure solutions vendors, operators, wholesale carriers, satellite service providers, OSS/BSS vendors, call centre solutions, green solutions vendors, and more.

Informa Media & Telecoms, organizers of Africa’s largest ICT, Media and Telecoms conference, has attributed the increase to the burgeoning explosion of communication infrastructure across the continent and the potential to realize profitability through a united digital Africa.

As specialist analysts in the field, Informa has noted that SIM penetration in Africa will reach 60% by the end of 2011. The second decade of the 21st century is being billed as the age when the internet reaches the people, be it via a nomadic service or a more, traditional fixed-line connection. By 2015, it is forecast that a fifth of internet traffic in Africa will be carried by cellular networks, as compared to a global equivalent of just 3% – just one of the facts that makes the African telecommunications market uniquely different.

With over 170 key speakers drawn from across the globe, AfricaCom is acknowledged as the most important of its kind on the continent.

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