The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) announced that from June 5 through June 7 at GLOBALCOMM 2006 the International Engineering Consortium (IEC) will host its annual Communications Forums, a series of technical forums developed to advance attendees' professional goals. The forums reflect the hottest trends in communications and cover the following topics of interest: IPTV Future, Mobile Broadband, FMC/IMS and Convergence, Emerging Services, Next-Generation Access, IP Evolution, The Digital Home, Ethernet Services, All-Optical Network and the Enterprise.

"We are pleased to once again partner with TIA and deliver such a high-quality program at GLOBALCOMM," said John Janowiak, president of the IEC. "With the support of AT&T as our official service provider sponsor, we have positioned the IEC Forums as the perfect vehicle for service providers, manufacturers, and enterprise professionals to gain a vast amount of knowledge in the classroom, while taking in the dynamic attributes of the GLOBALCOMM exhibition."

"IEC's continued provision of informative technical forums at the show adds great value to the GLOBALCOMM offering," said TIA President Matthew J. Flanigan. "Participants in the Communications Forums gain insight into leading-edge technology developments and applications that are driving the industry's growth."

Two sessions that are drawing early intention are "The Digital Home: Gateway to Opportunity," held on Monday, June 5, 2:15 pm - 3:30 pm, and "IPTV: The Real Story," to be held on Tuesday, June 6, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm. A full catalogue and description of all the IEC Communications Forums is available online at http://www.iec.org/events/2006/iec_forums/pdfs/conf_catalog.pdf.

"The Digital Home" forum recognizes that in the future customers will have several service choices from which to select, including alternate providers, which in turn will be quick to promote their offered service experience differences. The session identifies end-user factors that are the most critical, evaluates the technology options for secure home networks, focuses on the competitive alternatives available to customers, and examines the business models required for success.

"IPTV: The Real Story" heralds the technology as the capability that will complete the telco providers' quadruple-play bundle and sheds light on their potential success in becoming next-generation providers. Challenges remain, such as the new partnerships and business models with content providers that will be required, as well as partnerships with necessary technology players. This panel covers which partnerships are required and what the business relationship is; the blend of content and services for success; network architectures and technologies required to complete the package; and regulatory and public policy directions.

GLOBALCOMM, the next-generation communications marketplace and summit, will be held June 4-8, 2006, at Chicago's McCormick Place, with exhibits open from Monday, June 5 through Wednesday, June 7. For TIA, GLOBALCOMM replaces SUPERCOMM as TIA's annual industry event.