The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is pleased to announce its 8th Regional Telecommunications Exhibition and Forum for the Asia-Pacific region. ITU TELECOM Asia 2008 will be held for the first time in Bangkok, Thailand from 2 to 5 September 2008.

The Forum at Asia 2008 will provide a unique platform for sharing ideas from all sectors of the telecommunications and information technology industries – policy, regulatory, economic and development issues – to meet the challenge of strengthening and expanding ICTs in the Asia-Pacific region. There will be plenty opportunity to discuss pertinent technology and their various applications. This event will also include a Telecommunication Development Symposium (TDS), a Youth Forum, and a sponsored commercial section.

The global ICT industry continues to see enormous opportunity in the Asia-Pacific region, where close to 10M new mobile phone subscribers register every month. Asia is home to some of the world’s most advanced broadband markets and, by some estimates, as many as nine out of ten of the world’s 3G subscribers. This means that for global ICT players, Asia is not only defining future growth opportunities, but it is also setting the standards for what next-generation services will become globally. At the same time however, many rural communities are struggling to get online and access to telecoms is far from even, let alone equal. Governments and industry are working together to turn these gaps in infrastructure into fresh opportunities for business.