Cellphone inventor Martin Cooper to visit Jo'burg

This fifth annual iBurst Global Forum is aimed at furthering the deployment of technology - proven by a recent Australian study to lift a country's GDP by between 0.5 and 2.5%.
WBS is the provider of the iBurst mobile broadband system in South Africa and will preside over a conference attracting such global ICT heavyweights as Dr Cooper and Yasuo Nishiguchi, Chairman and CEO of Kyocera Corporation.

"A major aim of the iBurst Global Forum is to facilitate interaction between companies such as Kyocera & ArrayComm and African ICT stakeholders with a view to determining how these major international corporations can help Africa bridge the digital divide," said Thami Mtshali, CEO of WBS.

"South African operators have provided many African countries with their first taste of efficient and reliable access to mobile voice telecommunications in the absence of any viable fixed line alternatives. The iBurst Global Forum will look at ways in which we can replicate these achievements but with a focus on mobile broadband in the form of the fast and reliable iBurst broadband technology," said Mtshali.

Local speakers will include representatives from the Ministry of Communications and ICASA (The Independent Communications Authority of SA). WBS CEO Thami Mtshali and WBS Managing Director Alan Knott-Craig, Jnr will also address the Forum. Representatives from organisations such as NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa's Development), DBSA (Development Bank of Southern Africa) and the IDC (Industrial Development Corporation) will speak about the positive impact that broadband in general and mobile broadband in particular will have on the greater African continent.

Delegates attending are from countries as diverse as France, Lebanon, Egypt, Australia, Russia, Kenya, Ghana, Japan, Canada and Malaysia.

The iBurst system is being deployed nationwide in Australia and South Africa, as well as in Kenya and Canada. While the iBurst Global Forum is a closed event, a limited number of complimentary invitations will be made available to interested members of the public, media and industry stakeholders, email: .