A MORE HUMBLE TELECOMS INDUSTRY MEETS IN GENEVA.

The prevailing mood at the telecoms fair in Geneva, which opened on October 12, seems to be moderation and economy, with the sector returning to reason after the excesses of the internet bubble that characterised the previous fair four years ago. Telecom World 2003, organised by the International Telecommunication Union (UIT), features 900 exhibitors, or around 20% fewer than in 1999, and expects 115,000 participants and visitors, or 35% fewer than the previous fair. "We would like to have all the major operators present, but many have had to cut their staffs or redirect their activities and have consequently changed their marketing policies", notes John Jacobs, Director of Marketing and Development at UIT. The conspicuous absentees are mostly European, in particular Nokia, Ericsson, Siemens and France Telecom. The big American operators and equipment makers - Cisco, Nortel, Intel, along with Microsoft - and the Asians NTT DoCoMo, Korea Telecom and Samsung, are present in Geneva.

On the technology side, the organisers are putting the accent on high speed and wireless technologies...