Alexandre Pébereau, Chairman, ITW Founders' Council, has issued the following statement at the conclusion of the 2013 ITW meeting:
ITW Edition 2013 set the bar of excellence very high with the opening keynote by Vice President Al Gore and inspiring world-class speakers, exclusive information, open discussions and concrete business opportunities.
Following four intense days of meetings and stimulating debate, it is clear that the international carrier industry is transforming at an extraordinary pace. New challenges including OTT expansion, migration to IP and an ever-evolving consumer and wholesale market are just some of the critical issues in the debate.
In 2012 the global voice market grew by 5% to 490 billion minutes, 34% of which were VoIP. Market analysts project that the global market will continue to grow at 5% annually and IP Market analysis based upon recent years of steady growth suggests that IP traffic will grow by 40 - 50 percent annually in future years. The demand on working infrastructure to meet the accelerating migration to IP will be enormous and necessary to meet the new level of innovation that is ongoing.
These statistics bear testimony to the increasingly significant proportion of the total global international traffic terminated by wholesale carriers. We predict that voice communications will remain a 'killer application' for users.
In order for carriers to respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by this environment, we recognize the following important points:
1. Confidence
We have seen from many meetings and shared discussion last week that carriers have the agility and expertise to thrive in the face of transformation, based on secure, intelligent and value-added network capabilities. Maintaining robust, efficient networks is of critical importance to accommodating the forecasted traffic growth. To achieve this, carriers are committed to investing in leading-edge submarine and terrestrial assets.
The network is the base structure on which a full IP and convergent world will be built, particularly at a time when LTE deployment is intensifying.
In light of the almost exponential growth of new applications and the need for an IP network for data, video and voice, the carriers of the world will become the foundation infrastructure to enable this development.
2. Innovation
With smarter, innovative networks, carriers can seize today's converging world at full speed! The importance of innovation was a resounding message from last week's meeting. With the growing convergence of voice and data (IPX, HD voice, LTE), carriers will continue to provide leading-edge technology solutions, using IP as the enabler of a whole new world of communication services. Without question, innovation through investment in LTE technology is a key growth driver for carriers. By looking beyond market research and remaining constantly customer-focused we can deliver on our differentiating promise: providing best-in-class quality of service and improved-user experience, creating strong value for our customers.
3. Leadership
Leadership that engages in ongoing, open dialogue is crucial to exploring new avenues, adopting new approaches and answering the new challenges of a fully transformed industry.
"I believe these three watchwords, confidence; innovation and leadership provide a clear message from this year's ITW meeting. The industry is poised on the cusp of great change and as carriers we have an opportunity to enable a great deal of positive innovation."
We leave Chicago with a renewed sense of collective purpose and vigor for leading the global wholesale industry forward. I am encouraged by the spirit, energy and enthusiasm that were on display here last week.
