Telecoms trade show tackles credit crunch

A telecoms industry trade show on Tuesday did its bit to help telecoms operators offset the impact of the credit crunch.

"In the interests of the mobile operators in the U.K., if you could not turn off your mobile phones, but put them to silent," requested Darragh Stokes, managing partner at Hardiman Telecommunications and chairman of Carriers World 2008, on opening the event yesterday morning.

Indeed, with the European Commission planning to cut mobile termination rates by a whopping 70% over the next five years, mobile operators are doubtless keen to rake in all the roaming revenue they can right now. And what better place than a conference venue hosting delegates from close to 40 countries around the world?!

While the event largely steered clear of the doom and gloom associated with the economic downturn on day one, it was a subject that nonetheless underpinned many of the presentations made by executives from a number of global telecoms operators. See Total Telecom's dedicated news service for more from Carriers World.

Meanwhile, chairman Darragh Stokes did his best to reassure conference attendees that this latest economic decline is not their fault.

The technology companies were at the heart of the 1999 economic crisis, Stokes noted.

"This time around... we're not to blame!" he said.