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| .Thierry Breton |
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Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer of France Telecom SA Monday, 21 June 8:30 - 9:15 |
To date, the telecom industry has been structured around separate, fixed, mobile and Internet networks. Services, billing, and usages are compartmentalized, and it is the customer that carries out the integration of his telecom needs by juggling with his different terminals, options and ergonomics.
Thierry Breton took over as the head of France Telecom in October 2002, when the European operator was going through an unprecedented crisis. Thanks to his ambitious strategy, he has since restored the France Telecom Group's freedom of maneuverability and operation.
His strategy is based on the vision of a more integrated telecommunication world, which places the customer at the core of his own communication world, while offering him services accessible from any available network. The France Telecom Group no longer only provides mobile, fixed, or Internet services, but also home communication services, personal communication services and enterprise communication services. "We are experiencing the biggest paradigm change that ever occurred in the telecom industry," says Thierry Breton. This change will not only impact the services offered to the customer, but also the operational mode of the enterprise.
For Thierry Breton, deriving the best benefit from innovation and technology is the key to success. He proved it many times over the last few months, by putting France Telecom under pressure in order to deliver the promises of the future thanks to Wifi, covering 100% of the French population with ADSL lines, or open audiovisual services over copper lines.
Breton will speak about his vision and the strategy that he has implemented within France Telecom for nearly a year and a half. He will also present the latest technological innovations, which will undoubtedly be part of our future daily lives.
Thierry Breton was named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Board of Directors of France Telecom SA on 2 October, 2002. Prior to his current position, Breton was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Thomson Multimedia SA from 1997 to September 2002. From 1993 to 1997, he was on the Executive Committee of the Bull Group and Vice Chairman of the board of directors of the Bull Group beginning in November 1995. Prior to that, Breton was Chief Executive Officer of CGI, a service development company, from 1990 to March 1993, Chief Executive Officer of Futuroscope from 1986 to 1990 and, from 1981 to 1986, Chief Executive Officer of Forma Systems, a systems and information engineering analysis company. Breton is also a director of Thomson, Schneider Electric and Dexia (Belgium). He is a member of the supervisory board of AXA and Equant NV. Breton is a graduate of the Ecole supérieure d'électricité (Supelec) Paris and the 46th session of the Institut des Hautes Etudes de Défense Nationale (IHEDN).
| ,Ron Spithill |
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Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Alcatel Tuesday, 22 June 8:30 - 9:15 |
With the pervasive emergence of broadband services and applications, the distinction between Wireline and Wireless communication becomes blurred. User-centric service convergence is no longer a vision, but a sound commercial strategy, if not an imperative.
For the subscriber and for the enterprise, convergence holds the promise of richer, simpler communications delivered seamlessly across domains to any terminal device. For the operator or the service provider, service convergence brings the benefits of more attractive data, voice and video services, delivered over a lower-cost unified infrastructure.
In his keynote, M. Ron Spithill will address the transformations under way in the telecommunication industry and will show how they will drive innovation and technology evolution in coming years. He will share Alcatel's vision of what will be the next wave of communication solutions for carriers, service providers, enterprises and consumers in a broadband world.
Ron Spithill is Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, and member of the Executive Committee of Alcatel. He was previously President of Alcatel Asia Pacific and also Vice Chairman of Alcatel Shanghai Bell, Alcatel's flagship Chinese company. He started leading Asia Pacific in 1995 and was instrumental in organizing its various markets into a regional operation headquartered in Shanghai, China in January 2000. A year later, he was made an Executive Vice President of Alcatel. He is regularly invited to speak in international industry and business forums, including the World Economic Forum. He has been President of the Telecommunications Industry Association of Australia. Ron Spithill joined Alcatel in 1962 and was Chief Executive Officer of Alcatel Australia prior to becoming President of Alcatel Asia Pacific. He holds a degree in engineering from the University of New South Wales and is also a graduate of the Harvard Executive Program.