This year, ANGA COM 2016 will be held from June 7 – 9 in Cologne, Germany. Broadband TV News talked to Dr. Peter Charissé, managing director ANGA COM, about what is new about this year’s event.
The preparations for the next ANGA COM are in full swing – what is the current situation?
We are on track: Four months before opening, we have bookings for almost 90 percent of the exhibition space compared to the previous year. We are very happy, that several leading exhibitors, including Deutsche Telekom, Eutelsat, and Huawei, will significantly expand their booth space.
What are the hot topics in 2016?
Broadband topics will include multi acces technologies like FTTH, G.fast und Super-Vectoring as well as DOCSIS 3.1, All over IP, WiFi, Connected Home, and Internet of Things. Key topics in the TV and media sector are Multiscreen, TV Everywhere, Cloud TV, Personalized TV, Subsription-Video on Demand, and UHDTV.
What are the highlights of this year’s congress programme?
For the first time the CEOs of Vodafone Germany and RTL will join the opening session: Dr. Hannes Ametsreiter and Anke Schäferkordt. With that we bring together the broadband and media industry on a higher level than ever. Cologne – with Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Unitymedia, and RTL in the immediate neighbourhood – is and will remain the perfect location for such an industry summit.
With “ANGA COM 2.0” you announced to set new milestones – what does this mean exactly?
“ANGA COM 2.0” stands for a new approach in three fields in particular: infrastructure modernisation, broadband initiative and globalisation.
Let me pick out the infrastructure modernisation – what is planned here?
In 2016 and 2017 we will comprehensively modernise our infrastructure in Cologne. Follow-ing the expansion to two exhibition halls in 2011 and the transformation from ANGA Cable to the technologically neutral ANGA COM in 2013, we will set a further milestone for our event with this modernisation.
The first, smaller step will be the introduction of a completely new on-site admission system already this year: Admission will become more convenient and faster for the visitors, the visitor lead tracking functionality for exhibitors will become more efficient.
The second step will be a big one: In 2017 we will move into two new halls and a modern congress centre on the Cologne fair grounds. For today, here are just the most important keywords: both halls at ground level, no pillars, high ceilings. In the two new halls, we will be able to even better meet specific stand requirements and will have available additional premium space. All further details will be showcased in June during ANGA COM 2016.
There will be a broadband theme day with free visitor access – what’s behind this?
For many years one of our strengths has been the close interlinking between video and broadband topics. Due to our roots in cable television we have always been particularly strong in the TV area. In 2016, we want to address the broadband topic even more prominently and increase attractiveness for new visitor groups, especially the large number of local German and European fiber network operators: The third day will be expanded to a Broad-band Theme Day mainly focusing on network and infrastructure topics. And for the first time there will be free access to the exhibition and the congress panels throughout the entire day.
ANGA COM’s globalisation initiative includes new panels focusing on “ANGA Asia“, “ANGA Africa“, “ANGA Middle East“ – what is your aim in this field?
With a 50 percent share of international visitors we hold a top position as marketplace for all of Europe. As of now we will also increasingly address visitors from other parts of the world. This includes, among others, cooperations with industry events and media partners from other continents. Another element of our globalisation initiative is three overseas panels: “ANGA Asia“, “ANGA Middle East“, and “ANGA Africa“. The aim here is to have experts speak about experiences and outlooks in these markets.
