WINBC is hosting its first ever regional Summit Conference for the wireless industry in Vancouver on January 16, 17 and 18, 2008. With the theme "Ideas. Innovation. Investment." the Summit will invite companies from BC, the Yukon, Alberta and the Northwest US, to engage in dialogue and collaboration on social networking, location-based services, mobile advertising and wireless entertainment - the industry's hottest growth sectors. Wireless companies in BC currently generate over $1 billion in annual revenues.

Vancouver, BC - November 16, 2007 - What happens when 6,000 bright minds begin imagining the future and dreaming up technologies that can change the way the world works? In mid-January, 2008, delegates will get a glimpse into those dreams at the Pacific Northwest Wireless Summit (PNWS '08).

Those 6,000 bright minds, by the way, are the CEOs, management and employees who have created British Columbia's $1 billion wireless industry. They are joined by several thousand more like minds in the regional wireless industry that extends from Alaska down to Northern California, and from BC and Washington State to Alberta and Idaho.

This wireless summit is unique, in that it combines three separate events: a leadership summit meeting, and conference and mini-tradeshow, and an investment forum. It is the first event of its kind to be hosted by the Wireless Innovation Network of British Columbia - WINBC - and the only regional event of its kind held by the wireless sector anywhere in Canada. The Pacific Northwest region includes BC and the Yukon, Alaska, Washington, Northern California and parts of Idaho, with a specific focus on wireless companies in Vancouver, Calgary and Seattle.

Growth in the wireless sector in this region has been spectacular over the past five years. In BC alone, the number of wireless companies has grown over 500 per cent - from fewer than 50 companies in 2001 to over 250 companies today. Those companies generate huge revenues and employ over 6,000 well-educated, highly skilled people.

"Over the next few years, the hot growth areas in wireless are going to be in social networking,  location-based services, mobile advertising and  mobile entertainment," says Michael Bidu,  executive director of WINBC.

"BC is already home to several of the most successful and most innovative companies in the world in those industry spaces - companies like Nokia, Electronic Arts, AirG, Ascalade, Tranzeo, and WebTech Wireless. We've invited them and others to our Summit Conference, to collaborate, exchange ideas and share with us what they've been doing."

The three-day Summit, to be held January 16, 17 and 18, kicks off with a by-invitation leadership summit meeting at the multimedia, 2010 Commerce Centre in Robson Square. The leadership summit will look at issues and opportunities for the wireless industry and what the Pacific Northwest Region has to do to grow and evolve into a world leading centre for wireless innovation.

Day two will be an open-attendance conference with keynote speakers, discussion groups and a mini-trade show, at the Vancouver Hyatt Regency Hotel. Our special guest, the Hon. Colin Hansen, BC's Minister of Economic Development has been invited to deliver highlight's of WINBC's 2007 Wireless Survey. There will also be an opportunity for delegates to vote for the most innovative wireless solution at the show, using their cell phones and Handi Mobility's livevote(TM) service.

The mini-tradeshow, limited to just 20 booths, will emphasize the top four industry sectors.

On the final day, selected wireless companies seeking investment and partnership opportunities will gather at the law offices of McCarthy Tétrault for the Service Provider Investment Forum (SPIF), where they will make presentations and hold one-on-one meetings with the R&D and Venture divisions of the world's leading wireless and wireline telcos, such as AT&T, Bell, Telus, France Telecom and others.

"We want to make this Summit the flagship event for our regional wireless industry," says Bidu, "By expending the effort to make this an excellent, inspiring show, I'm confident we can triple the size of it by 2010. I'm also excited to be kicking it off at the 2010 Commerce Centre where innovative business involvements with the Winter Olympics and Paralympics are being co-ordinated and promoted. It's an opportunity to get our industry involved with the Olympics."

WINBC: www.winbc.org
Conference Website: www.pnwsummit.com