ANGA COM set for “multifaceted” congress programme

ANGA COM is set to return to Cologne this year with 450 exhibitors and what it claims will be its “most multifaceted congress programme ever.”

Now in its 15th year, its second under its new moniker following the 2013 rebrand from ANGA Cable, the international expo will play host to companies from 34 countries and will seek to discuss all facets of broadband and video distribution.

Over the course of three days ANGA COM will feature speakers from major players operating in the space, including Deutsche Telekom, Liberty Global, Astra, ProSiebenSat.1, Tele Columbus, RTL, Sky Deutschland, Unitymedia, KabelBW and Kabel Deutschland, the latter of which Vodafone acquired for €7.7 billion last year.

The first day’s opening panel discussion is entitled ‘Broadband, Television, Online – Business Models for the Connected Media World’ and includes participation from: Liberty Global president and CEO, Mike Fries; Kabel Deutschland CEO and Vodafone Deutschland managing director (MD), Manuel Cubero; Astra Deutschland MD, Wolfgang Elsäßer; Telekom Deutschland’s MD of marketing, Michael Hagspihl; and Tele Columbus Group CEO Ronny Verhelst; ProSiebenSat.1 executive board member Conrad Albert; and ZDF’s corporate counsel, Peter Weber.

This will be followed by the NRW Media Summit, marking the first year that ANGA COM will work with the media congress Medienforum NRW – a media convention that has been running for 25 years and is supported by the government of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).

Held in cooperation with the ANGA COM congress programme, this portion of the even will include debate about future media regulation, publishing houses’ video and digital strategies, the role of VoD usage in the German media market and current developments in television and online entertainment.

The NRW Media Summit kicks off with keynotes by Tom Buhrow, director general of public broadcasting body WDR, and Thomas Lindner, chairman of the board of directors of German newspaper FAZ (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). It will also feature discussion from Unitymedia KabelBW CEO Lutz Schüler and Sky Deutschland CEO Brian Sullivan about future market structure strategies.

Across the ANGA COM there will a total of 20 congress panels. Strategy panels will focus on topics such as personalised TV, multi-access strategies, new broadband business models, platform regulation, copyright, pay TV and competition with new online OTT services. The nine technology panels will cover topics such as fibre optic expansion, multiscreen, IPTV, DOCSIS 3.1, CCAP, RDK, recommendation engines, and WiFi.

ANGA COM, managing director Dr. Peter Charissé says that a feature of this year’s show will be a greater focus on ANGA’s foreign delegates: “For the first time, all technology panels will be held in English so that the congress programme becomes even more attractive for international visitors.”

Day three of ANGA COM will feature seven panel events in total, including four expert panels as part of the ‘Connected Home Special’. Now in its second year, this is organised in cooperation with BITKOM, the Federal Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media, and will include a high-level summit on the topic of the connected home, plus panels on media home gateways, apps for TV usage, home security, and smart metering.

“In recent months, the in-home distribution of TV and Internet has proven to be a driving force for home networking. This is not about mere scenarios, but about actual products. Therefore, in unison with the exhibition, there will be an even stronger focus on the ‘connected media home’ in 2014,” said Charissé.

Due to appear as part of the Connected Home Summit will be: the president of ANGA (Association of German Cable Operators), Thomas Braun; the CEO of Alcatel-Lucent Deutschland Wilhelm Dresselhaus; chairman of the management board for Microsoft Deutschland, Dr. Christian Illek; Arris’ president of network & cloud and global services, Bruce McClelland; Cisco’s vice president and general manager of service provider video for EMEAR, Yves Padrines; and Telekom Deutschland’s MD of sales Dr. Dirk Wössner.

ANGA COM, which carries the tagline ‘where broadband meets content,’ will play host to a new speaker’s corner this year alongside its regular congress panels, offering an additional presentation platform where exhibitors can present new products, projects and solutions.

Located on the exhibition boulevard in hall 10.1, this 150-seater space will be accessible by all exhibition visitors and congress attendees without the need for additional registration.

Last year ANGA COM attracted 17,000 visitors, up 6% on the previous show, with half of these from outside Germany, and it aims to build on this in 2014.

“With 450 exhibitors we tie in smoothly with the success of our record year, 2013. With our numerous co-operations we have managed to further add value to the congress programme. With the combination of exhibition and congress we make the connected media world tangible, dealing with the broadband and media topics practical and to the point,” says Charissé.

ANGA COM is organised by a subsidiary of the Association of German Cable Operators and for many years has been supported by ZVEI (Satellite & Cable) – a business lobby group and forum for manufacturers of broadcasting transmission and broadband communication systems. Other partners for this year’s show include ABTA Expo & Conference Sao Paulo, Cable Europe, NCTA Cable Show and Medienforum NRW. Sponsors of the event are Alcatel-Lucent, Astra, AVM, Nagra, QVC and Unitymedia KabelBW.

ANGA COM will be held at the Koelnmesse conference centre in Cologne, Germany, and runs from May 20 – 22.