Future Scenarios for Latin American Communications (II) April 14, 2008 Presented by Columbia Institute for Tele-Information, Columbia University (United States) Centro de Tecnología y Sociedad, Universidad de San Andrés (Argentina) Programa de Investigación en Telecomunicaciones, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económica (México) Centro de Politicas, Direitto, Economia e Tecnologías de Comunicacoes, Universidade de Brasilia (Brasil) Enter, Instituto de Empresa (Spain)   

At Columbia University, 3022 Broadway, New York   

The Latin American communications industry is at a crossroad facing alternative development paths. The cycle initiated in the early 1990s with the privatization and liberalization of telecommunications has led to an exponential growth in service adoption across wireless, Internet and pay-TV services. In addition, the supply side has been impacted by successive economic crises (1995, 2002) and a wave of industry consolidation leading to the emergence of balanced oligopolistic industry structures.   

Looking forward, the industry is facing numerous issues, the outcome of which will determine its ultimate performance, both in terms of meeting social and economic needs and generating reasonable profits to its shareholders. 

Among these issues are:   

  • How will the demand growth opportunity for the uncovered segments of the population be tackled in the region? 
  • How should new regulatory frameworks be defined in order to stimulate infrastructure investment in a converging industry environment? 
  • What is the optimal industry structure that will ensure further service adoption, technological development, and industry sustainability?   

A first conference dedicated to tackling these issues was held in Buenos Aires last October. It focused primarily of the future of demand, industry structure and company strategies. The second conference, to be held at Columbia University this April will be dedicated to the future of services, technology platforms and regulatory frameworks   

  • 9:00 – 9:15   INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME (Prof. Eli Noam, Director-Columbia Institute for Tele-Information) (confirmed)   
  • 9:15 – 9:45 KEY TAKE AWAYS OF THE BUENOS AIRES CONFERENCE (Dr. Raul L. Katz-Columbia Institute for Tele-Information-United States) (confirmed)
    • Future of demand
    • Future industry structures
    • Future strategies   
  • 9:45 – 10:45 FUTURE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES (Prof. Judith Mariscal-Programa de Investigación en Telecomunicaciones, CIDE-México) (confirmed)
    • Mature and new services
    • Underserved populations 
    • Demand patterns for traditional and new media   
  • 10:45 – 11:00 Break   
  • 11:00 – 12:00 FUTURE BROADCASTING SERVICES (Prof. Hernán Galperin-Centro de Tecnología y Sociedad, Universidad de San Andrés-Argentina) (confirmed)
    • Future of digital TV 
    • IPTV and mobile media             
  • 12:00-1:00 LUNCH   
  • 1:00-1:45 FUTURE ECONOMIC SCENARIOS FOR LATIN AMERICA (keynote presentation)   
  • 1:45 – 2:45 FUTURE TECHNOLOGY TRENDS 
    • Future of Wimax, fiber optics and 3G in the region
    • Technological adaptability
    • Standards setting   
  • 2:45-3:00 Break 
  • 3:00 – 4:00 FUTURE REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS (Robert Pepper, Senior Managing Director-Cisco) (confirmed) 
    • Network neutrality
    • Structural separation
    • Convergent regulatory frameworks 
  • 4:00 – 5:00 ROUNDTABLE: HOW COMPETITIVE IS THE LATIN AMERICAN COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY?   
  • 5:00-5:15: WRAP-UP   
  • 5:15 RECEPTION   

Registration 

For more information, please contact John Heywood, CITI’s Assistant Director (jwh2121columbia.edu)