News

Cannes has its own telcos, you know!

Spare a thought for the minnows. At this time of year, Cannes fills up with people arriving for the 3GSM Congress from all over the world; AT&T, Nokia, BT, MMO2, Sony, you name it. The local telcos are tired of being ignored!

So this year, they're having their own mini-Congress.

Initiative Riviera Technologies is "an ambitious federative development program instigated at a regional level, by hi-tech and life science companies," announced a publicity executive, who is co-ordinating a "Telecom Valley Gallery, being hosted by Cote d'Azur Developpement.

There is a mini-exhibition, with a collection of the latest "Made in Cote d'Azur" wireless technologies to be presented at the Cannes restaurant "la Potiniere du Palais" - right opposite the Palais des Festivals. "The restaurant will be entirely transformed into a 250 square metre wireless technology exhibition with its own WiFi hotspot, during 3GSM World Congress 2004.

Initiative Riviera Technologies has a plan that "will help accelerate the development of innovative Cote d'Azur companies during the next 10 years." Participants in the Telecom Valley Gallery include: Aequalis, Altix-EDS, Devnet, ETSI, Istar/EADS, NCR Teradata, OrangeFrance, Smartcom, StoneTrip, Temex, Trendium, Texas Instruments, and W3C.

The VIP Lounge, demonstration and presentation areas, reserved for partner companies, will provide an ideal setting to receive clients and prospects, present the latest developments and invite guests to participate in the different events taking place during the congress.

According to the press announcement, the Telecom Valley Association, was founded in 1991 and currently has over 70 members representing a total of about 10,000 jobs. Its aim is to encourage the development of a "pole of excellence" with an international vocation in the fields of telecommunications and Information Technologies, "by uniting the expertise of its members, start-ups, SMEs, international groups, centres of research and advanced education, standardisation organisations and regional institutions." More information from the web site

Cote d'Azur Developpement is the regional economic development and service agency for the Cote d'Azur. For over 20 years, the C.A.D. team has been dedicated to the mission of attracting companies and investors to the Alpes-Maritimes territory, acting as a facilitator and privileged interface between investors and different actors on a local, regional and national level. www.investincotedazur.com