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Newly-Appointed Orange EVP of Networks and Carriers to Chair IEC’s
Broadband World Forum Europe 2009

Orange’s Vivek Badrinath will serve as the World Forum Chair and host a carrier panel at Europe’s Annual Premier Broadband Event this 7–9 September at the CNIT La Défense in Paris

CHICAGO – 24 March 2009 – The International Engineering Consortium’s (IEC) today announced Vivek Badrinath, executive vice president Networks and Carriers, Orange as World Forum Chair of the upcoming Broadband World Forum Europe 2009. He will also chair the plenary panel entitled “Broadband Services Evolution:
Opportunities and Challenges for Services Providers” featuring respected broadband leaders Matt Bross, chief technology officer, BT; Vicente San Miguel, chief technology officer, Telefónica S.A.; and Steve Pusey, chief technology officer, Vodafone.

“We look forward to Mr. Badrinath sharing his vision and headlining more than 250 highly regarded speakers in this year’s program in Paris,” commented IEC President John Janowiak. “Their commitment to the evolution of broadband services and continuing education certainly fall in line with the event’s mission to ‘deliver the promise’ of driving the industry forward.”

“The Broadband World Forum Europe hosts the most significant stakeholders in the global telecommunications industry, and I am honored to serve as the Conference Chair at this year’s event,” stated Mr. Badrinath. “The industry faces unique challenges in these times, and I look forward to exploring creative solutions and opportunities to advance the deployment of today’s evolving services.”

Mr. Badrinath’s panel will serve as one of 50 sessions and will discuss the opportunities emerging from the evolution of mass market services such as home networking, digital home, e-health, IPTV, mobile data, and the resulting challenges for service providers.

The panel takes place at 11:30 on Wednesday 9 September and is included within the IEC’s Exhibits PLUS programming, which also grants access to the exhibition floor, keynote addresses, InfoVision Awards Ceremony, and networking receptions.

Major supporters of the Broadband World Forum Europe 2009 include Official Host Sponsor Orange, Alcatel-Lucent, Nokia Siemens Networks, Ericsson, Thomson, ZTE Corporation, ADVA Optical Networking, AVM, Motorola, NEC and more.

Exhibits and sponsorship opportunities remain; key industry companies may visit
www.iec.org/events/2009/bbwf/exhibitors/index.asp or contact Christine Paplaczyk at
cpaplaczyk(at)iec.org or +1-312-559-4616.

The IEC is now accepting speaking proposals at: www.iec.org/events/2009/bbwf/speakers/call_proposals.asp.

For additional information, visit www.bbwfeurope.com or contact Katie Post at kpost(at)iec.org or +1-312-559-3325.

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About the Broadband World Forum Europe

For nearly a decade, the annual Broadband World Forum Europe conference and exhibition has grown significantly, hosting more than 6,000 of the industry’s elite and offering a wide range of information and communication technologies topics under the large umbrella of broadband.

Themed “Delivering the Promise,” this year’s Broadband World Forum Europe will feature more than 250 speakers in more than 50 breakout sessions, keynote
addresses, plenary panels, and workshops. Seventy-seven percent of BBWF Europe attendees are expected to be at a manager-level and above (averaged from the last three years). The event will also draw more than 100 carrier companies.
One hundred top vendors from around the globe will make up the high-caliber exhibition and display the latest broadband technologies, equipment, applications, solutions, and services needed to meet the ever-increasing customer demand for innovative solutions.

When last in Paris in 2006, the Broadband World Forum Europe received the "Best in Congress" KRéA Award with the CNIT La Défense and was honored as the best professional conference in all of France. Last year, the event helped generate the #1 industry news story of 2008 according to Total Telecom.

This year, the World Forum will present six tracks: (1) Mass Market, (2) Enterprise, (3) Software Enablers, (4) Core, (5) Access, and (6) Broadband Ecosystem Evolution. The prestigious InfoVision Awards will also take place again at the event. With the support of Official Host Sponsor Orange, the IEC expects thousands of industry professionals from approximately 100 countries to the CNIT La Défense this 7-9 September. For complete information, visit www.bbwfeurope.com.

About the IEC

A nonprofit organization, the IEC is dedicated to catalyzing technology and business progress worldwide in a range of high-technology industries and their university communities. Since 1944, the IEC has provided high-quality educational opportunities for industry professionals, academics, and students.

In conjunction with industry-leading companies, the IEC has developed an extensive, free, on-line educational program. The IEC conducts industry-university programs that have substantial impact on curricula. It also conducts research and develops publications, conferences, and technological exhibits that address major opportunities and challenges of the information age.

More than 70 leading high-technology universities are IEC affiliates, and the IEC handles the affairs of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association and Eta Kappa Nu, the honor society for electrical and computer engineers. Please visit www.iec.org.