As coverage elsewhere in this issue illustrates very clearly, there's no shortage of entries on the events calendar of any telecom executive. The fall is fairly crowded with trade shows and summits. Even on such a crowded field, however, an event like TMW-Dallas is worth a second glance. The event marks the celebration of ten years of TMW, and sports a new name. While previous events have been known as “TeleManagement World,” or simply “TMW,” this year's Dallas event is called “TMForum Management World,” or.... “TMW.”

In addition to having the foresight to retain a common acronym, the show creators have endeavored to put together a show worthy of approaching a new decade full of challenges and possibilities. I took some time to speak to Martin Creaner, President and CTO of the TMForum, and he shed some light on the changes that the show has experienced, as well as the state of the Forum.

What's in a Name?

With regards to the change in name, some are interested to see if there will be a change in focus as well. Creaner replies that it's “maybe not as broad as a shift in focus. There has been a change in the way the market is moving.” Indeed, there has been a sizable change in the market niche addressed by TMW and the telecommunications market as a whole. Creaner asserts that content and device providers entering the market are doing so with gusto, and while major telecom players like BT, AT&T, or Deutsche Telekom are not in danger of vanishing with any immediacy, they are being joined by other companies that are entering the space. “The telecoms world is going to be unrecognizable in a few years time with all the additional players that are getting involved,” Creaner said. “There are a whole lot of other players that are edging into the box. Quite frankly, know one really knows how any of that is going to work out.”

So who are these players and what is their game? According to Creaner, TMW is shifting to accommodate “content and device companies. Disney, for example, wants to engage in telephony services, not only through its VNO type offerings, but also through directly delivering its content to consumers over the air.” Content companies, however, aren't alone in their expanding role. “Companies like Apple on the device side have obviously been making a huge splash, and there's about to be the G-Phone (from Google) coming along as well.” These new entrants into the space necessitated an upgrade to the format of the show to allow problems to be addressed directly and fully. “The big question hanging over the whole industry is when all of these new players appear, when all of this change happens, who