The development of both broadband and Internet technologies has greatly enriched people's lives, and the latest technologies provide an opportunity to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. However, technology has mainly benefited the rich, as it remains unaffordable to less-developed countries and regions. Finding ways to bridge the digital divide and create a harmonious society is also a cause of concern for many governments. SPs and vendors should provide affordable services and technologies to ensure that more people are able to enjoy the conveniences brought about by an information society.

• What kinds of services are most useful to the poor? How can we help them become better off?
• What kinds of cost-effective technologies can vendors provide? Considering that many poor people live in rural areas, one of the best solutions could be to deploy wider-coverage wireless networks or wireless networks that use existing broadband networks.
• What role can the government play?

In this session, SPs, vendors, and governments will share their ideas, visions, and experiences with regards to how the digital divide can be bridged.

Eliceo Sanchez Co-Chief Executive Officer China Netcom National Lab

Mr. Sanchez previously held the position and took main responsibilities at Telefónica, including chief executive officer of Telefónica Solutions, the ICT company of Telefónica Group; chief executive officer of Terra Mobile, a multinational company with presence in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Germany, England, Sweden, and Finland; managing director of innovation and technology in Telefónica mobile corporation; chief executive officer of Telefónica R&D; marketing director of SME's market; and coordinator of Telefónica for voice services in Unisource.

Luis Ezcurra General Manager, Enterprise Business Telefónica Moviles Spain

Mr. Ezcurra was general manager for services development in Telefonica Moviles Spain since July 2001. However, after a year being responsible for marketing and market development, he was appointed to his current position. Mr. Ezcurra is also member of the board of Mobipay and Tempos 21 since 2003. He obtained his degree in telecommunications engineering in the Telecommunications Engineering Technical School in the University of Madrid.

Lintao Jiang Chief Engineer, China Academy of Telecommunication Research MII

In addition to his current role, Mr. Jiang also acts as the director general of the Mobile Multimedia Technology Alliance. He is the chairman of IP and Multimedia Standard and Technology Committee of CCSA. He is the deputy chairman of Study Group 13 in ITU-T. After graduating from Electronics Engineering Department of Tsinghua University, Mr. Jiang devoted himself to the research, development, and standardization of multimedia and data communication as well as IP technologies.

Saverio Orlando Department Executive Director, Wireline Access Transport Layer Telecom Italia

Mr. Orlando is in charge of the all-IP NGN innovation and engineering at Telecom Italia. From October 2004 to November 2005, he led the mass-market network services department with the responsibility to design and deploy all new mass-market broadband services such as ADSL and IPTV as well as evolve the legacy voice services toward new-generation services such as VoIP and video telephony. From 1991 to October 2004, he led different departments at Telecom Italia Network and Telecom Italia IT, including OSS and intelligent network. He received a degree in electronic engineering from the Polytechnic of Turin in 1981.

Mick Reeve Chief Executive Officer Mixtel

Mr. Reeve is a seasoned telecom professional with a proven track record in technical innovation. Following a 36-year career with BT, he retired this year and is now consulting in the telco industry. For BT Mr. Reeve was most recently chief architect and led the standards program, directing the architecture for BT's 21st Century Network and ensuring its alignment with global standards. In his standards role he sat on the boards of the TeleManagement Forum, WiMAX forum, and ATIS.